Major Browsers Support SSL-Free Service Let's Encrypt

A new certificate authority (CA) which aims to encrypt all web traffic on the Internet and therefore will issue free SSL certificates is now supported by all major browsers, as announced the initiators of Let's Encrypt.

With an SSL certificate, websites can encrypt the traffic to and from visitors and identify themselves in front of visitors. Let's Encrypt is an initiative of the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG) and is supported by Mozilla, Akamai, Cisco, the American civil rights movement EFF and various other parties. According to the initiators, there are already parties that offer free certificates for websites, but the installation is still a tricky process, which is a fully encrypted web stands in the way.

Let's therefore Encrypt will automate the installation and issue of certificates. For this purpose has been developed a programming interface (API), as well as client software that makes use of this API. Administrators can use this client software on their own Web server to automatically install a certificate and configure their server so that henceforth use HTTPS.

To avoid warnings in the browser must Let's Encrypt or by the browser as a valid certificate authority are recognized.Something which is now achieved through the intermediate certificates of Let's Encrypt by IdenTrust be signed. All browsers accept IdenTrust and thereby also the certificates of Let's Encrypt. "This is a major milestone because it means that visitors to websites that use Let's Encrypt certificates without special modifications have a secure browsing experience," said Josh Aas of ISRG.