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Home > Coder Catchup > Episode 049 - Let's Encrypt the web with FREE SSL Certificates
Podcast: Coder Catchup
Episode:

Episode 049 - Let's Encrypt the web with FREE SSL Certificates
Category: Technology
Duration: 00:13:50
Publish Date: 2015-12-14 14:45:00
Description:

https://letsencrypt.org/
Let’s Encrypt is a new Certificate Authority:
It’s free, automated, and open.

  • Free SSL Certificates for all
  • Move the web forward, trying to make https the default for a more secure and private internet
  • No wildcard certs, dang
  • Support, basically all the browsers, anything on XP though is a different story, it will not accept the intermediate cert.
  • Setup is easy, clone the tool, run the auto script (ACME client, https://github.com/letsencrypt/letsencrypt), enter the domain(s) you wish to have certs for and you are done. Add your SSL information to your web server config and happy secure https days.
  • While in beta, certs will need to be renewed every 90 days
  • When it was in the limited beta, over 26k certs were issued, it seems that should be enough to nail down all the things for a public beta

The key principles behind Let’s Encrypt are:

  • Free: Anyone who owns a domain name can use Let’s Encrypt to obtain a trusted certificate at zero cost.
  • Automatic: Software running on a web server can interact with Let’s Encrypt to painlessly obtain a certificate, securely configure it for use, and automatically take care of renewal.
  • Secure: Let’s Encrypt will serve as a platform for advancing TLS security best practices, both on the CA side and by helping site operators properly secure their servers.
  • Transparent: All certificates issued or revoked will be publicly recorded and available for anyone to inspect.
  • Open: The automatic issuance and renewal protocol will be published as an open standard that others can adopt.
  • Cooperative: Much like the underlying Internet protocols themselves, Let’s Encrypt is a joint effort to benefit the community, beyond the control of any one organization.
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