Web Security: There’s Good News from Google… or Not

Let’s talk about web security.

Does your website have SSL?

If you answered yes, there’s great news from Google this week.

The leading search engine is rewarding websites that use SSL. This means that users of SSL will not only get a secured connection to protect their communications with customers, they will get higher visibility when potential customers are searching with Google.

What’s more, the cost-benefit calculation of getting an SSL has just leaned more towards benefit! In fact, Google is indicating that they will not actually be favoring SSL users but punishing sites that don’t use SSL!

Another way to look at is that if you do not use SSL and want to keep your current rankings you have to act now.

Web Security: What is SSL?

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. It provides a secure connection between internet browsers and websites, allowing you to transmit private data online. Sites secured with SSL display a padlock in the browsers URL. An easy way to check whether your website has SSL or not is to check the url bar. If there’s a green padlock like the one shown below then you are secured, if not then you need to contact a reliable SSL provider.

At Legibra, we see plenty of websites that need to expand their use of SSL. A common example is where a page that receives posted data is secured, but not the submission page itself. This leaves the site, and their customers, vulnerable to “man-in-the-middle attacks” that hackers use to intercept data and commit financial fraud.

The impact of Google’s new SSL policy on rankings will be modest initially, to give web operators time to react, but Google says that they will increase the weighting of the factor over time.

What Should You Do?

Keeping in mind that Mozilla is also penalizing websites without SSL, the best move to prevent breach of data while improving your online visibility is to get an SSL for your website. Your web security matters; after all, the hackers are ready, are you?