![\"letsencrypt\"](\"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/letsencrypt.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLet\u2019s Encrypt is a new non-profit Certificate Authority (CA) sponsored and founded by industry advocates; such as, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Mozilla, and the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG). Let\u2019s Encrypt will be launching very soon and will be offering free SSL certificates.<\/p>\n
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Of course we are strong supporters of universal encryption and hope that Let\u2019s Encrypt will lower barriers for websites that can\u2019t afford existing SSL options. However, we do not think Let\u2019s Encrypt should be a viable option for commercial use of any kind, you should continue to buy from established Certificate Authorities (CAs) such as Symantec, Comodo<\/a>, GeoTrust, RapidSSL and Thawte. Especially since the pricing for basic encryption\/Domain Validated (DV) certificates are available for extremely low and affordable rates and still carry a strong brand name recognized by most web users. Also, Let\u2019s Encrypt will not be able to provide a few major types of SSL certificate solutions, like Extended Validation (EV) or multi-domain certificates and we definitely don\u2019t think that a free certificate solves a user\u2019s most pressing problem when browsing on the web: Authentication.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, Let\u2019s Encrypt will have some very notable limitations<\/strong> due to their limited funding and infrastructure. Because they will only be offering free certificates, they will only be able to provide automated, basic encryption only\/Domain Validated (DV) SSL certificates with no other frills that typically come with SSL certificates.<\/p>\n These limited certificates only confirm the ownership of your domain, and don\u2019t involve any vetting of your business information (which typically takes a validation expert\u2019s time and effort to manually verify) or any additional features found in basic certificates, like a site seal or a warranty. In general, businesses that want to offer their potential customers an additional layer of safety & security like activating all SSL indicators in browser or from promoting authentication should opt for OV or EV certificates from trusted 3rd party security companies\/commercial CAs such as Symantec and Comodo.<\/p>\n EV certificates (like the one we use on our website) are the only kind that activate the Green Address Bar<\/a><\/strong>, the most prominent SSL indicator in the world, which proudly displays your business name and location next to your URL in web browsers in green. Green means go in all languages and for all ages!<\/p>\n<\/span><\/span>\n Many of the largest companies in the world use EV SSL certificates because they are better equipped to communicate trust and security to the general website visitors. Twitter, Apple, and PayPal, for example, all use EV SSL to ensure users have absolutely no doubt they are on the official and intended website. Banks almost exclusively use EV SSL because EV certificates are less vulnerable<\/strong> to unauthorized issuance and phishing attacks. The green bar cannot be duplicated by a hacker at all.<\/p>\n Also, Let\u2019s Encrypt won\u2019t have support for Wildcard SSL certificates at launch. Wildcard certificates allow you to protect subdomains of your choice, indicated by the use of an \u201c*\u201d (giving you the option to extend SSL security to the location of the asterisk, such as \u201c*.domain.com\u201d or \u201c*.employeeportal.domain.com\u201d). These certificates are incredibly versatile and an efficient option for management reasons. For some websites, they can actually be the only option if they need to have immediate SSL security on new subdomains.<\/p>\n We believe these are major limitations<\/strong> which will exclude a notable number of users and use-cases from even trying out the certificate.<\/p>\n We have worked with hundreds of thousands of customers and if our experience has taught us anything, it\u2019s that SSL can be confusing, and many people need help. Knowing what type of certificate you need and how you will get it successfully working on your network are the most common and most serious questions our customers and partners have. Anyone who works with SSL knows it\u2019s about much more than just making a purchase. These complex security solutions need hand holding, therefore are not a type of product that can just be sold and never spoken of again. People need help with validation, installation, site seals, Always on SSL implementation, random industry updates & compliance, etc. even if it is just with a basic DV certificate.<\/p>\nLet\u2019s Encrypt Will Have Major Limitations<\/h2>\n
Years of Experience Taught us That Users Need More than a Free Certificate<\/h2>\n