Cyber security has never been as “hot” and relevant as it is today. With Equifax being the most recent victim, it’s glaringly clear that no entity is safe. Is your business website secured with an SSL Certificate?
The pitfall we’re finding is that many small to medium size businesses don’t think they are at risk due to their size. Regardless your size, if your business has a website presence cyber security should be top of mind. Just think, an average cost of a data breach for a small business merchant is $36,000.
Have your site SSL certified. Why SSL? It gives your customers and visitors a sense of protection and trust when on your site. SSL (stands for Secure Sockets Layer) is an encrypted data exchange script which runs between the server and the browser ensuring that the data passed back and forth is protected from hacking or phishing attempts. The easiest way to determine whether a site has an SSL certificate is by checking the page address in the browser. HTTPS means it’s a verified secure website with an SSL certificate. HTTP indicates the site doesn’t have a security certificate.
To be fair, not every website needs an SSL certificate. So who does?
Additional benefit of SSL is SEO ranking, Google has said it will serve sites with SSL certificates ahead of non-certified sites on result pages.
After you assess your website usage and determine that SSL certification is needed the process that follows is fairly straight-forward. What you need to do:
It should be said that depending on the type of SSL certificate you choose; additional work is required to provide necessary documentation and maintenance.
It’s clear that website security is an important business decision. If you need help navigating all the choices and finding the best solution for your business reach out and speak with our experts at 312-339-9359.
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