"Let's Encrypt" to support the introduction of HTTPS by issuing a certificate free of charge to the official version from the beta version

BySean MacEntee

To make it easy for anyone to easily encrypt HTTP communication using SSL, EFF, Mozilla, Cisco Systems, Akamai Technologies, IdenTrust, researchers at the University of Michigan, etc., these members are spreading HTTPS The initiative started for "Let's Encrypt"is. We will be able to issue server certificates free of charge, which has been said to be troublesome and a heavy financial burden, but this effort has finally shifted the service from the beta version to the official version.

Leaving Beta, New Sponsors - Let's Encrypt - Free SSL / TLS Certificates
https://letsencrypt.org//2016/04/12/leaving-beta-new-sponsors.html

Numerous websites on the Internet are markup languagesHTML, But the communication protocol for sending and receiving this HTML data between the web server and the web browser is "HTTP」です。ウェブサイトのURLの頭についている「http://」というのは、この通信プロトコルの名前を示しています。

A mechanism for enabling this HTTP communication more safely is "HTTPS"is. How to change HTTP communication to secure one in HTTPS is to send communication dataSSLTo protect it by encrypting it. By encrypting data, it is possible to prevent interception of communication contents and to prevent tampering with communication contents.

In order to adopt this HTTPS, a web browser displaying a website sends a certificate from a web server, and the siteCertification authorityIt is necessary to confirm whether it is licensed to the CA (CA). After this confirmation work, if it can be confirmed that it is a reliable site, communication will be decrypted and you will be able to browse the website.

Currently there are many things that are not yet adopting HTTPS at individual sites, but in 2013Edward SnowdenThrough his accusation it is possible to intercept citizens' communication contents at national levelclear, And the interest in communication encryption is increasing worldwide.

Also, as it is now possible to easily connect to the Internet from various devices such as smart phones and PCs, game machines and wristwatches, the movement to use HTTPS instead of HTTP, which does not encrypt communication, is becoming active . Among them, born in 2014 is "Let's Encrypt", a service that helps to easily issue certificates to websites by issuing certificates for free. For server certificates used by HTTPSgradeExist and Let's Encrypt issues a server certificate which is low in authentication level but has a lot of labor and financial burden so that they can be issued free of charge, We have also succeeded in automating the task of installing and updating, making the introduction of HTTPS dramatically easier.

Let's Encrypt - Free SSL / TLS Certificates


Such Let's Encrypt finally shifted the service from the beta version to the official version. The number of companies supporting this service is gradually increasing, and Gemalto, HP Enterprise, Fastly, Duda, ReliableSite.net etc are new sponsors. It was in September 2015 that the beta version was in operation, and since then Let's Encrypt seems to have issued 1.7 million server certificates to 3.8 million websites. From the operation of the beta version which lasted about seven months, it seems that it was decided to remove the title titled beta by being able to gain reliable experience and trust in system operation.

Trends in the number of issued server certificates from the start of Let's Encrypt's service until April 2016 are as follows. The number of issues has risen considerably gently until December 2015, but the number of issues has been increasing at a stretch past December.


Also, the graph comparing the number actually used on the website among the server certificates issued by Let's Encrypt and other CAs is as follows. this isThe Internet of Secure ThingsButCensysInformation that was surveyed using February 2016, which is less than half a year since Let's Encrypt appeared. Looking at this, it is clear that the growth in the number of certificates issued by Let's Encrypt is overwhelming, and it will tell you how troublesome the issuing work of the certificate and HTTPS operation were.


Incidentally,WordPress.comAnnounced that it will use a server certificate issued by Let's Encrypt to provide HTTPS connection free of charge to all proprietary domains hosted by the service.