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TLS vs SSL: Which Protocol Should You Use for WordPress?

Are you wondering whether you should use the TLS or SSL security protocol in WordPress?

Installing a security certificate makes your website secure so that you can accept payments in your online store and protect your users. However, terms like SSL and TLS can confuse beginners.

In this article, we will talk about TLS vs. SSL certificates and show you which protocol you should use on your WordPress website.

TLS vs SSL: Which Protocol Should You Use?

What Are SSL/TLS Certificates? How Do They Work?

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, and TLS stands for Transport Layer Security. They are both internet security protocols that you install on a website in the form of a certificate.

SSL/TLS certificates are like a security lock for your WordPress website. When a user visits your website, the security certificate will encrypt the data before sending it to the user’s browser. Similarly, they also allow the user’s browser to encrypt data before sending it back to your WordPress website. 

All websites on the internet must use a security certificate. It allows you to securely accept payments online, protect passwords, and safely transfer personal data online.

Security certificates like SSL or TLS work with security keys. When data is transferred from your website to the user’s browser, it is locked behind encryption. In order to read the data, the user’s browser will need the security key to unlock it. 

Similarly, when users send data back, they use the same security key to encrypt the data. Your WordPress website will then use its private key to decrypt the data.

How SSL Works

Once you have installed a security certificate on your website, the beginning of your site’s address (URL) will change from http:// to https://.

This shows that you are now using the HTTPS (Secure HTTP) protocol to securely transfer information over the internet.

You will need to update the URL in your WordPress settings and set up redirects so that visitors will be taken to the correct URL when using an old link. You can learn how in our guide on how to properly move from HTTP to HTTPS.

What Is the Difference Between SSL and TLS Certificates?

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) was the original technology behind security certificates used by websites. SSL certificates were first used in 1995.

Unfortunately, security flaws were found with the original SSL protocol that left it vulnerable to hackers. These vulnerabilities allowed hackers to intercept and modify data as it traveled between the website and the user’s browser.

Over the years, several improvements were made to SSL to make it more secure. Here is a quick timeline of the changes as security vulnerabilities were discovered:

  • SSL 1.0 (unpublished) was never publicly released due to security issues.
  • SSL 2.0 (1995) was deprecated in 2011 due to security issues.
  • SSL 3.0 (1996) was deprecated in 2015 due to security issues.
  • TLS 1.0 (1999) was deprecated in 2021 due to security issues.
  • TLS 1.1 (2006) was deprecated in 2021 due to security issues.
  • TLS 1.2 (2008) is still in use.
  • TLS 1.3 (2018) is still in use.

The SSL protocol is no longer used, but the term SSL certificate stuck, and it is still commonly used as a synonym for TLS certificates. 

To summarize, TLS is the evolved form of SSL certificates. Most websites on the internet use TLS certificates. However, they are still commonly referred to as SSL certificates.

How to Get an SSL Certificate for Your WordPress Website

There are a number of ways you can get an SSL certificate for your WordPress website. The price usually varies between $50-200/year. However, you may be able to get one for free.

The best option is to pick a WordPress hosting provider that includes a free SSL certificate with your hosting plan. That way, you can easily turn on your security certificate from your hosting dashboard.

Here are some of our recommendations for the best WordPress hosting providers that offer free SSL certificates:

If your hosting provider doesn’t offer a free SSL certificate, then you can get one for free with Let’s Encrypt.

If you prefer to buy an SSL certificate, then we recommend using Domain.com. They are one of the largest domain name registration services in the world, and they offer the best deal on SSL certificates.

They provide simple SSL certificate plans starting from $35.99/year, which comes with a $10,000 security warranty along with the TrustLogo site seal.

After you have purchased the SSL certificate, you can ask your hosting provider to install it for you or follow our tutorial on how to properly move WordPress from HTTP to HTTPS.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions About SSL and TLS

At WPBeginner, our readers often ask us questions about SSL vs. TLS certificates. Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions about these security protocols.

How are TLS and SSL different?

TLS (Transport Layer Security) and SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) are encryption-based protocols used to secure communication over the internet.

While they serve the same purpose, TLS is the newer and more secure replacement for SSL.

Most modern browsers no longer support SSL, so if you want to make sure that your website is accessible to all users, then you should use TLS.

What is the latest version of TLS?

The latest version of TLS is TLS 1.3. It was released in 2018, and it is the most secure version of TLS to date. However, TLS 1.2 is still often used.

TLS 1.2 and 1.3 are supported by most modern browsers and devices.

Earlier versions should not be used due to known security issues.

How can I discover which version of SSL or TLS my website is running?

The easiest way to check which SSL or TLS protocol your website is using is with an online tool like the Qualys SSL Labs SSL Server Test.

Simply type in the website’s domain name and then click the ‘Submit’ button. The tool will show which versions are supported and also look for common SSL issues.

SSL Test Result With an Excellent Result

What should I do if my website is still using SSL?

If your website is still using SSL, then you should upgrade to TLS. You will also need to upgrade if you are using the older, less secure TLS versions 1.0 or 1.1.

Upgrading to TLS 1.2 and/or 1.3 will improve the security of your website and make it more accessible. Plus, this is a relatively simple process that can be done by your web hosting provider.

We hope this tutorial helped you learn the difference between TLS vs. SSL certificates. You may also want to see our ultimate WordPress security guide or our expert pick for the best WordPress security plugins to further protect your website.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post TLS vs SSL: Which Protocol Should You Use for WordPress? first appeared on WPBeginner.

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What is HTTP/2 and How to Enable It in WordPress?

Are you wondering what is HTTP/2 and how you can use it in WordPress?

HTTP/2 is the major revision of the HTTP technology used by all websites.

In this article, we’ll explain HTTP/2 and how to enable it on your WordPress site.

What is HTTP/2 and how to start using it in WordPress

What is HTTP/2?

HTTP/2 is the revised version of the original HTTP protocol. It was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and is based on an experimental SPDY protocol developed by Google.

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is like a language that allows computers to talk to each other on the internet. It’s how information gets sent back and forth when you use websites or apps.

When you visit a WordPress website, your web browser sends a message called a request to the server that stores the website. The request asks for specific information, like the page’s text, images, or videos.

Tip: See our article on how WordPress works behind the scenes for more details.

The server receives the user’s request and sends back a response. This response is like a package containing the information you asked for. It includes things like the text you see, the pictures you look at, or even the videos you watch on the website.

HTTP 0.9 was first launched in 1991. A significant revision to that, HTTP 1.1, was published in 1999 and most websites ran on that until 2015, when the HTTP/2 protocol launched.

HTTP/2 is supported by all modern web server software and browsers, though many websites still run on HTTP 1.1 if they do not have an SSL certificate installed.

The IETF currently proposes the upcoming version of HTTP/3. It will use QUIC (Quick UDP Internet Connections) instead of TCP and is expected to be much faster than HTTP/2.

What is the Difference Between HTTP2 and HTTP?

The HTTP 1.1 protocol sent data requests without prioritization. This means if a website has a reference to a JavaScript file in the head, it will load before any other content.

This makes a website appear slower to the users who could not see the content they were expecting to see.

HTTP/2 protocol uses a binary single stream to send and receive requests with prioritization support. This means developers can tell the server which data to send first.

The HTTP/2 protocol also uses compression for HTTP headers and multiplexing. Both of them further improve the page load performance.

The newer protocol also comes with HTTP/2 Server Push support. This allows developers to push data to the users’ browsers without them requesting it.

To summarize, HTTP/2 is faster than HTTP 1.1 and significantly improves your WordPress speed and performance.

What Do You Need to Use HTTP/2 in WordPress?

First, you need a hosting company offering the latest server software with HTTP/2 support. You’ll also need to install an SSL certificate on your WordPress website.

Most of the top WordPress hosting companies already use cutting-edge web server software.

We recommend using Bluehost, which uses the latest Apache web server software with HTTP/2 support enabled by default.

Luckily, the folks at Bluehost are offering WPBeginner users an exclusive discount with a free domain name and SSL certificate.

→ Click Here to Claim This Exclusive Bluehost Offer ←

Other hosting companies we recommend include SiteGround, Hostinger, and WP Engine. They all offer free SSL certificates and the latest server software with HTTP/2 support.

How to Enable HTTP/2 in WordPress?

The only requirement to enable HTTP/2 support in WordPress is installing an SSL certificate.

It is not an official requirement. However, major browsers like Google Chrome don’t support HTTP/2 on non-secure URLs.

If your website uses SSL, your URLs will have the https:// prefix like this: 

https://wpbeginner.com

Visiting your website will also show a padlock icon in the browser’s address bar.

Secure website padlock

If your website does not use an SSL certificate, you can ask your WordPress hosting provider to install it for you.

Need more help? See our tutorial on how to move from HTTP to HTTPS in WordPress.

Once you have enabled SSL, your WordPress website will almost certainly be served via HTTP/2 protocol.

Testing HTTP/2 Support for Your Website

If you want to see if your WordPress website is serving pages via HTTP/2, then there are two ways you can test it.

First, you can visit HTTP2.Pro and enter your website’s URL. This free online tool will then tell you whether your website supports HTTP/2.

HTTP/2 support check

Another more effective way to check if your website serves pages on HTTP/2 is using the Chrome developer tools.

Simply open a new browser window in Google Chrome and visit your website. After that, open a new browser tab and enter the chrome://net-export URL in the address bar.

Start logging to disk

Chrome will then ask you to save a JSON file to your computer.

After saving the file, visit the netlog viewer app and click on the ‘Choose File’ button.

Choose file to view in netlog viewer app

Select the netlog file you downloaded earlier to continue.

The app will then present the file in a readable format. Click on the HTTP/2 tab in the left column, and it will show you all the websites you visited that were using the HTTP/2 protocol as h2.

Websites using HTTP/2 protocol

We hope this article helped you learn about HTTP/2 and how to enable it in WordPress. You may also want to see our complete WordPress speed and performance guide or look at our beginner’s guide to WordPress SEO.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post What is HTTP/2 and How to Enable It in WordPress? first appeared on WPBeginner.

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How to Create a Truly Anonymous Website (Step by Step)

Do you want to create an anonymous website?

Some users may need to create a website anonymously to protect their privacy and additional security.

In this step-by-step guide, we’ll show you how to easily create a truly anonymous website. We’ll also talk about protecting your identity online.

Creating an anonymous website

Why Create an Anonymous Website?

An anonymous website conceals the identity of who runs or owns a particular website.

Some users may want to remain anonymous for a number of reasons.

  • Whistleblowers trying to expose corruption.
  • Journalists under authoritarian regimes
  • Citizen watchdog groups
  • Or users who just want to remain anonymous for privacy reasons

Creating an anonymous website makes it difficult to find out who created and runs the website.

Important: Please keep in mind that there is no guaranteed way to remain completely anonymous. While you can make it difficult to trace, there is still a chance that it can be tracked.

What Do You Need to Create an Anonymous Website?

You’ll need the following items to create a basic anonymous website.

  • Anonymously purchased domain name and hosting
  • A separate encrypted email account
  • A secure and reliable VPN service

Now, let us explain why you’ll need those things.

First, you will need to create a new separate email account. You’ll be using that account to manage your website.

To remain anonymous we recommend creating an email account using privacy-focused email services like Proton Mail.

Next, you will need to hide is your IP address. The easiest way to do that is by using a VPN service. We recommend using IPVanish.

IPVanish

Once you have created an email account and turned on the VPN on your computer, you can go ahead and buy a hosting plan.

Normally, you can just go to any of the top hosting companies and start a website in a few minutes.

However, many of these companies require credit card information. This means your personal information will be stored and can be traced back to you.

That’s why we recommend using Hostinger.

Currently, they are giving WPBeginner users a generous discount and a FREE domain name. Basically, you can get started for $2.78 per month.

→ Click Here to Claim This Exclusive Hostinger Deal ←

Hostinger is one of the best WordPress hosting companies on the market and allows you to pay using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to keep your purchase as anonymous as possible.

Buying Hosting and Domain Name Anonymously

First, you need to make sure you have VPN turned on whenever you are working on your anonymous website.

After that, you need to visit the Hostinger website and click on the ‘Start Now’ button.

Hostinger start now

This will bring you to the pricing and plans selection page.

We recommend choosing a 48-month plan which gives you the best discount. Plus, you wouldn’t need to worry about future payments for a long time.

Choose your hosting plan

Click to select the plan you want to buy, and then go to the payment section.

From here, first, you need to provide the anonymous email account you created earlier.

After that, you need to select ‘Coingate’ as the payment method and then click on the ‘Submit Secure Payment’ button.

Choose payment method

This will take you to the payment wizard.

First, you need to select a cryptocurrency that you want to pay with and click Continue.

Choose cryptocurrency

Next, you need to enter your anonymous email address and click on the ‘Continue’ button.

Note that you don’t need to create a Coingate account to pay using this method.

Provide email address

On the next screen, you’ll see the QR code to make the payment through your Bitcoin wallet app.

You can also pay manually, by sending the amount to the Bitcoin wallet address mentioned on the screen.

Pay with BitCoin

Upon completion of the transaction, you will be redirected back to the Hostinger website.

You will receive an email from Hostinger with a link to log in to the hosting control panel.

Once you log in to your hosting account control panel, you’ll see a notification to claim your free domain name.

Claim free domain

During domain registration, ICANN requires website owners to provide their personal information such as name, address, email, and phone number.

You need to provide at least the email address you created earlier so that you can be reached for verification.

During the registration, you may also see an option to turn on Domain Privacy.

This feature hides any information you provide during domain registration from WHOIS searches. Anyone who checks will see Hostinger’s proxy info.

After domain registration, you may receive an email to verify your registration.

Installing WordPress to Make Your Anonymous Website

Now that you have completed the domain name and hosting setup, it is time to install WordPress.

Hostinger allows you to easily create a WordPress website. Click on the ‘Manage’ button next to your URL under the hosting panel.

Manage hosting

This will bring you to your back-end dashboard.

From here, you need to visit the Website » Auto Installer page and then click on the ‘Select’ button under WordPress.

Hostinger auto installer

This will launch the auto-installer wizard.

Simply follow the on-screen instructions to finish the setup.

After that, you will see your new website options under the Hostinger control panel.

From here, first, you need to click on the ‘Install’ button next to the ‘SSL Certificate’ option.

Turn on SSL

After that, you need to click on the toggle next to ‘Force HTTPs’ option.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) allows your website to use secure HTTPs. Using it improves your WordPress security by encrypting all traffic to and from your website.

Having an SSL certificate is also a factor in ranking well in search engines and a part of a solid website SEO plan.

Finally, click on the ‘Edit Website’ button to launch and start editing your new WordPress website.

Edit website

Working on Your WordPress Website Anonymously

By design, WordPress is privacy-conscious software to the extent that you can choose what information you want to share on your website.

First, you may want to visit the Users » Profile page and choose a pseudonym for the default admin or author of your website.

Change name

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Update Profile’ button to save your changes.

Next, you need to decide whether you want to allow users to comment on posts and pages across your website.

Simply go to Settings » Discussion page to configure comments. Uncheck all options under the ‘Default Post Settings’ section to disable comments, trackbacks, and pingbacks.

Disable comments

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your settings.

Adding Content to Your WordPress Site

WordPress comes with two default content types called posts and pages. Posts are part of a blog and are displayed in reverse chronological order, meaning that newer posts appear first.

Pages are standalone pages that are not part of a blog. They are used to create a website structure and layout. See our list of must-have WordPress pages for all types of websites.

To add a page, simply visit the Pages » Add New to create one.

WordPress block editor

WordPress comes with a powerful editor called the Block Editor. See our complete WordPress block editor tutorial to familiarize yourself with the interface.

Similarly, to create a post you will need to visit Posts » Add New page.

Choosing a Theme (Template) For Your Website

WordPress comes with a powerful templating engine that allows you to change the appearance of your website by installing themes.

There are thousands of free and paid WordPress themes available. You can choose one that looks closer to what you have in mind for your website.

WordPress Theme Stats

You can look for themes under the Appearance » Themes page. It will show you a bunch of default themes that come with your WordPress install.

For more themes, click on the ‘Add New’ button at the top to find more free themes.

Add new theme

For premium or paid WordPress themes, you can try trusted WordPress theme shops like SeedProd, Thrive Themes, Astra, Elegant Themes, and more.

However, there is such an abundance of WordPress themes that it may become difficult for beginners to decide which theme they want to use.

We recommend choosing a minimalist design with plenty of white space. This provides you plenty of room to customize the theme and make it your own.

For more details, see our guide on how to choose the perfect theme for your website.

Install Privacy Friendly WordPress Plugins

Plugins are like apps for your WordPress website. They allow you to add new features and extend the functionality of WordPress.

There are more than 60,000 free plugins available in the WordPress.org plugin directory alone. Plus, there are premium WordPress plugins sold by third-party developers with priority support and guaranteed updates.

WordPress plugins

However, you also need to consider which plugins you need to use to keep your WordPress website secure, private, and anonymous.

Following are our top picks for the best WordPress plugins to install on your anonymous website.

  • WPForms – It is the best WordPress contact form plugin and allows you to easily create forms for your website.
  • All in One SEO for WordPress – It is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market and helps your anonymous website get more traffic from search engines.
  • SeedProd – It is a powerful WordPress page builder that allows you to use a drag-and-drop interface to create any type of page for your website.
  • OptinMonster – It is a conversion optimization software, which helps you convert website visitors into email subscribers and customers.
  • MonsterInsights – The best WordPress Google Analytics plugin which helps you see where your visitors and coming from and what they see on your website.

For more plugin recommendations, see our full list of essential WordPress plugins for any kind of website.

FAQs About Running an Anonymous Website

Following are some of the most commonly asked questions about creating an anonymous website.

1. Is it possible to create a fully anonymous website?

Yes, it is possible to create a fully anonymous website. However, you’ll need to be very vigilant about it. Each internet activity creates an information trail leading back to the person who initiated the activity. This trail can be traced by hackers, government agencies, and ISPs. As an anonymous website owner, it will be your job to anonymize all activities.

You can do this by minimizing the activities around your website and using a VPN to hide your IP address. Be careful about any social interactions as they may reveal personally identifiable information.

2. What is anonymous offshore hosting?

Anonymous offshore hosting is a website hosting service that allows users to purchase hosting and domain name without providing real name or credit card information.

Some of these lesser-known companies host their servers in countries with stricter privacy laws. These companies also promise to not store user logs or share them with third-country agencies.

However, these anonymous offshore hosting companies often have very bad customer service and outdated technology.

3. Can a website owner be traced?

Yes, a website owner can be traced even if they are trying to remain anonymous. However, an anonymous website owner can use privacy tools to make it harder to be traced.

Even then if someone is determined to figure out and has the technology, tools, and resources, then they may be able to find out who is running an anonymous website.

4. Can I buy a domain name anonymously?

Yes, you can buy a domain name anonymously from a domain name registrar that accepts cryptocurrencies as a payment method.

Hostinger, also allows you to register additional domain names using cryptocurrencies. During the registration, you can use a separate anonymous email account as the contact address for your domain name.

We hope this article helped you learn how to create a truly anonymous website. You may also want to see our guide on how to create a private blog or take a look at our complete WordPress security guide to keep your anonymous website secure.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Create a Truly Anonymous Website (Step by Step) first appeared on WPBeginner.

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How to Build HTML Forms Right: Security

While many guides to creating forms for the web are mainly focused on the frontend, security goes beyond that. We have to consider the current user, other users, and our own security. As such, we will look at the whole application architecture from frontend to backend and beyond.

Encrypt Traffic (SSL)

Before we get too far, I will be using the term “SSL” to refer to a technology used to encrypt traffic on the internet. Technically, I mean Transport Layer Security (TLS), but “SSL” is commonly used and understood to mean the same thing. It’s what gives websites the little green lock in the URL bar and why they start with “https” instead of “http” (no “s”). 

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Lessons From an Internet Outage: Issues Caused by Let’s Encrypt DST Root CA X3 Expiration

As a monitoring and observability company, we have a lot of monitoring built into our systems as well. We have the standard monitoring to make sure that systems are performing properly, data is flowing through our infrastructure, etc. At the same time, we have monitoring for any sudden changes to tests that our customers are running.

On September 29, 2021, at 19:21:40 UTC, we started to see a tsunami of alerts at Catchpoint. They originated from some of our web tests from our synthetic nodes, occurring when our Let’s Encrypt “R3” certificate expired. These types of incidents are pretty rare.

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Resolving SQL Connection Errors Due to SSL Certificate Issues

SSL certificates are very important for authenticating websites and ensuring connections are encrypted. However, there are some scenarios when they can create headaches. Rather than throw the baby out with the bathwater and abandon the use of SSL, you should know how to use them properly.

One issue that you can run into will occur when connecting with a remote computer. You might try to connect to an SQL Server from a remote computer with the same credentials that you used to connect locally. Unfortunately, you might receive an error like this.

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11 Ways To Fix the ERR_SSL_VERSION_INTERFERENCE Chrome Error

Introduction

Recently the ERR_SSL_VERSION_INTERFERENCE  error has come to the limelight and is being faced by the majority of users. They fail to understand the meaning of this error and hence can’t come up with a feasible solution. Before going for any further solutions for solving this error, let’s have a clear knowledge about 2 related questions.

• What does the ERR_SSL_VERSION_INTERFERENCE error mean?
• Why does the ERR_SSL_VERSION_INTERFERENCE error occur?

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Why Is Having an SSL Certificate Important For Your Website?

Using the internet in daily life has increased. Activities in our daily life are decided after the use of the Internet, and we spend lots of time on web pages from selling and buying to much more. Hence, online security has become a necessity. Indeed, Google loves its users, and therefore, every possible way to make users feel secure on the internet.

Google has announced they will flag the unencrypted websites from July 2018. This means if it is not protected, they will mark a website as ‘NOT secure’ in the URL bar. It's a part of making global webs secure.

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SSL-Based/Secured FeignClient Example in Java Microservices With Eureka

Prerequisite:

  • You should have one Discovery Server up and running
  • An SSL based microservice registered with the above Discovery Server up and running which we are going to consume from below FeignClient
  • You need to generate your client application's keystore and trust store. You need to add your server certificate into your client application's trustStore and add your client application's certificate in the Server application's trustStore.

Before reading this article make sure that you know about Spring Feign Client. In this article, I will explain how to develop a Feign Client application/service to establish two way SSL based communication. In simple words, how a Feign Client can make an HTTPS REST service call. Also for this project, I assumed that we have a Eureka discovery server and one SSL based Spring boot microservice called global-repository. In other words from our FeignClient below, we are going to consume an SSL based microservice (global-repository)with a valid certificate.

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Create Wildcard SSL Certificate With Let’s Encrypt and Integrate Into Engineyard

First, we are going to generate a wildcard SSL certificate for our domain, and then, we will see the process of integrating that certificate in engine yard. First, let’s get some insight about the terms we are going to use in this blog 

What Is SSL and Why Is it Used? 

SSL certificates are used to create an encrypted channel between the client and the server. Transmission of such data as credit card details, account login information, any other sensitive information has to be encrypted to prevent eavesdropping. 

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What Is SSL Offloading and How it Works

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates are given to a website to make sure that the website is secured and won’t fall prey to malicious hackers. Since this process involves loading the web-server with a lot of load, the process of SSL offloading is done to remove the SSL-based encryption from the incoming traffic to make the web-server a bit relieved from decrypting the incoming traffic.

This process is to be designed specifically for the acceleration of SSL known as SSL acceleration. The SSL offloading device processes both encryption and decryption, both of which make the web-server slow.  

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Public Key Cryptogrophy – The Puzzle of Private and Public Keys

Whenever we disclose any of our private information (or any type of info that might hamper our lives if it gets into the wrong hands) to an authority online, we always have second thoughts about how communication networks work and if they'll be able to keep our information secure.

So to end this uncertainty to some extent, you’ll get to know how public-key cryptography (asymmetric cryptography) helps carry out the exchange of our information over the internet securely in this article.

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CALMS for DevSecOps: Part 3—How Lean Improves Performance

This is the third of my blog posts investigating DevSecOps through the CALMS lenses—we’ve looked at Culture and Automation already now it's time for:

Lean

In the previous blog post, I looked at some DevSecOps tools I particularly like and introduced you to TaskTop. TaskTop is the ultimate tool for optimizing your flow from idea to realization—a connectivity framework that takes the pain away from writing and managing integrations and visualizing your lead and cycle times. It’ll show you where your bottlenecks are.

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Why Manual Management of SSL\TLS Certs Destroys Security

For something so important, if you look around, you will find that the means and methods of managing SSL and TLS certificates are stuck somewhere in the past. Despite being the backbone of cybersecurity, IT folks often recount an alarming dependence on ad-hoc, manual, or semi-automated approaches to addressing this problem.

The range of tasks involved with certificate management is greater than one might assume at first glance. For example, someone has to purchase certificates and renew them when they expire, time-consuming activity in and of itself. Then, there’s the actual deployment of certificates, etc.

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What Are the Stages of the Certificate Lifecycle?

Digital certificates are electronic credentials that are used to certify the identities of individuals, computers, and other entities on a network. Because they act as machine identities, digital certificates function similarly to identification cards such as passports and drivers’ licenses. For example, passports and drivers’ licenses are issued by recognized government authorities, whereas digital certificates are issued by recognized certification authorities (CAs).

Private and public networks are being used with increasing frequency to communicate sensitive data and complete critical transactions. This has created a need for greater confidence in the identity of the person, computer, or service on the other end of the communication. In addition, these valuable communications must be protected while they are on the network. Although accounts and strong passwords provide a certain level of assurance in the identity of the entity on the other end of the network, they offer little or no protection while data is in transit. In comparison, digital certificates and public key encryption identify machines and provide an enhanced level of authentication and privacy to digital communications.