The online security of customers should be one of the main priorities for the managers of Internet companies. It may seem unusual, but some companies do not apply this philosophy to their business. When it comes to protecting their users’ data, some companies prefer Self-Signed SSL Certificates over the SSL Certificates issued by a Trusted Certificate Authority.
You may ask yourself what is the difference between Self-Signed SSL Certificates and SSL Certificates issues by Trusted Certificate Authorities. We will answer that below.
Disadvantages of Self-Signed SSL Certificates
Self-signed SSL Certificates are risky because they have no validation from a third-party authority, which is usually a Trusted SSL Certificate Company. Developers and businesses try to save money by using or creating a free Self-Signed SSL Certificate. But there are several threats and possible consequences of the Self-Signed SSL certificates which you should know about.
Is your customers’ trust worth it?
Suppose your website has a Self-Signed Certificate. When a user visits your website which has a self-signed SSL Certificate, the web browser will prompt the users by showing them an alert and warning them about possible security issues on your website. Browsers do that because they do not recognize the Self-Signed Certificates as a trustworthy solution for protecting the users’ information on websites.
At this point, users will have two options: to continue browsing your website or to go and do their shopping on a safer website. Faced with a security alert, your website will most likely make a bad impression on users and will force the users to go to another website. As a company doing business online, you do not want to scare your existing users and your potential customers with such alerts. However, you are likely to do so, if you are using a Self-Signed SSL Certificate.
If you use a Self-Signed SSL Certificate, you simply cannot hide it. All web browsers will warn users about it. More than that, the web browsers’ warning is usually very graphically unappealing. It will quickly raise flags in your users’ eyes and mind. As a result, your brand may suffer irreparably.
The Self-Signed SSL Certificates are easy to replicate. Hackers can use this technique against your company, designing a website that looks just like yours in order to steal personal information or credit card information from your users. This can put your customers’ identities at risk.
Is a Self-Signed SSL Certificate a good decision?
- It can cost you more than you think. At the beginning, you can save some money using a free Self-Signed SSL Certificate. However, later on, the attackers can cause enormous damage to your website, compared to the price you would pay for buying an SSL Certificate.
- It’s actually not free. When creating your own Self-Signed SSL Certificate, you will pay your developers to create it for you. Your developers’ work time doesn’t come for free, and it’s very expensive most of the time. If you are a developer yourself, you could probably earn more if you spend those hours working on your regular job, instead of trying to save some money by working on creating your own Self-Signed SSL Certificate. So, it takes both time and money to create a Self-Signed SSL Certificate. On top of that, you add the risk of attackers hacking you. The smallest mistakes in the Self-Signed SSL Certificate are backdoors for hackers to steal your customers’ personal information.
- It is difficult to monitor. If you use Self-Signed SSL Certificates, the monitoring of your active and expiring certificates becomes difficult. At SSL Dragon we monitor your SSL Certificates and notify you when your SSL Certificates are about to expire.
- It may be difficult to revoke. Self-Signed SSL Certificates are very difficult or impossible to revoke. At the same time, SSL Dragon can easily revoke an SSL Certificate, if you buy it from us.
The security of your customers builds the security of your business
Surveys show that 71% of online shoppers in the US rely on the seller to protect their personal information. This means that your customers expect you to protect their personal information. If something goes wrong with your website and hackers steal your customers’ sensitive information, it’s your fault.
At SSL Dragon, we care about you and your customers, and we offer you solutions that will protect your customers and your business. You can choose from a wide range of SSL Certificates, then let us monitor your SSL Certificates and notify you about any threats and vulnerabilities that appear on the web. At the same time, we will notify you when your SSL Certificates are about to expire, and we will make sure that you and your customers are safe.