Hey There!
As one of our awesome partners, we want to give you a heads up regarding a change that Google Chrome and other web browsers will be making in the not-so-distant future. Read on and we’ll summarize what you need to know as it pertains to your account.
What’s the change?
Starting early 2017, web browsers will start marking all domains that do not have an SSL certificate as “unsecure”. This could be something like displaying a small icon in the url field, or displaying a warning message when people try to access a site.
What does this mean for my customers?
All this talk about “unsecure” and “SSL” might make you think that your site is compromised, but it sounds much more severe than it actually is. Rest assured that this will not impact your mobile apps. What this will mean however, is that users of your control panel will potentially see a warning icon or message in their web browser stating the the site isn’t secure.
How do I know if my domain has an SSL certificate or not?
You’ll want to contact your domain provider to be 100% sure, but you should be able to tell by looking at the URL of your domain. If it begins with “https” instead of “http” it means the site is secured using an SSL Certificate (the s stands for secure).
Is an SSL certificate mandatory?
It’s about as mandatory as a seat belt on a steam boat. In other words, no, it is not mandatory that you have an SSL certificate. It’s really up to you whether you want to implement one or not. If you’re comfortable with how your website has been thus far, the only change will be one of perception in that your users will see the icon next to the URL signifying it’s not a secured website. We should note however, that there are other advantages to having an SSL. Here’s a good article to get you started:
Where should I go from here?
Though this change is coming soon, our recommendation is that you prepare to purchase a wildcard SSL certificate. If you want to purchase it now, you can. Otherwise, we will send another email regarding instructions on how to implement the SSL certificate into your admin account.
Is this something that BuildFire can circumvent?
Unfortunately it is not. This is strictly a new implementation of the web browser itself (e.g. Chrome, Safari, etc.), which we have no control over.
Is BuildFire secure regardless of whether I get an SSL or not?
Yes, BuildFire is absolutely secure. This pertains not to the BuildFire system, but to your specific domain.
How will I implement the SSL into my account?
We’ve got a deployment heading through QA that will allow you to update and upload your SSL information in your admin dashboard under Settings > Account.
Where can I get more information?
Here’s a great article on this topic:
If you still haven’t quenched your thirst for knowledge, you can find out more info by searching “Google Chrome SSL” in your search engine.
Thanks for choosing BuildFire!