Check your website HTTP SSL Certificate for Free

What are SSL Certificates?

If you own a website, ensure that its traffic is safe and secure. Using the SSL certificate which is an integral part of internet security is one way to do this.

But how can you check if your SSL certificate is valid?

The SSL/TLS protocols allow for the establishment of a connection between both parties. In this case, any information shared between two parties is protected, because hackers can compromise data, like passwords and credit card numbers, etc.

At Pittsburgh SEO Services, we understand the importance of maintaining a safe online experience. To help you promptly confirm the legitimacy and security of your SSL certificate, we provide a free HTTPS SSL Certificate Checker.

Keeping your website updated and complying with the latest security laws is more crucial than ever, especially considering Google’s recent declaration that outdated SSL certificates will expire.

Types of SSL Certificates

SSL certificates are classified as follows based on their domain:

  • Single domain – This type of SSL certificate pertains to one domain name.
  • Wildcard – This form of SSL certificate is valid for a single domain but can also be used for subdomains. For example, blog.Site.com.
  • Multi-domain – These SSL certificates can be used on several unrelated domains.

Each SSL certificate may have a variable level of validation. SSL certificates can be classed based on their validation level.

  • Domain level validation: This validation applies just to the domain name, and the firm must verify that it manages it.
  • Organization validation: These are more trustworthy since the certifying agency (CA) will directly contact the firm before granting the certificate.
  • Extended validation: For this certificate level, the CA performs a more comprehensive procedure and background check before issuance.

Google Policy About SSL Certificate

Don’t have an SSL certificate? Google will flag your website this year! Google is indeed very concerned about the safety of its users on the internet.

According to a new policy by Apple, Google and Mozilla, in 2020, It is compulsory to have valid SSL certificates and renew them 398 days before expiry. If not renewed on time, expired SSL certificates expose your business to a variety of security and commercial dangers.

Shorter certificate validity periods allow for speedier algorithm improvements and certificate and key replacements, particularly during harmful intrusions. The shorter the time it takes to implement changes and upgrades, the smaller the security risk.

Most SSL certificates have a lifetime of one to three years, after which the website must have its certificates reissued by the certifying body. A certificate’s validity may be fixed based on criteria such as cost, corporate policy, validation level, and so on.

In most circumstances, a certificate will be replaced when it approaches its expiration date.

But don’t worry about it, Pittsburgh SEO Services has made it pretty simple, by providing a free SSL certificate to safeguard your website.

How Do SSL Certificates Work?

SSL certificates are a credential that indicates a credible and acknowledged site by the corresponding Certificate Authority. They implement encrypted message transfers, ensuring data protection and handling by verified sources only. The process of sending data requests over the internet is vulnerable to intervention attacks, where hackers can intercept the data and use it maliciously.

SSL uses an advanced private-public key pair encryption model, with the server holding the private key and browser clients sharing a public key. Clients accessing a website with SSL protection receive the public key, encrypt the data, and send it to the server. The server uses the private key to decode the data and send encrypted results back to the client.

This layer of encryption helps prevent security vulnerabilities and ensures data integrity.

Risks Associated with Expired HTTP SSL Certificates

Putting Your Website Security at Stake

Once an SSL certificate expires, other clients (browser users) will be unable to verify the legitimacy of your website. Furthermore, it may not meet the most recent security requirements, thereby exposing encryption techniques to vulnerabilities in the future.

Customers’ Trust and Revenue is at Risk

SSL certificates are essential for establishing trust between businesses and consumers. It also provides a safe and secure environment for website visitors.

If your SSL certificate expires, the browser will flag your site as insecure, resulting in less traffic. Expired SSL certificates can also cause service failures, damage your brand reputation, and decrease consumer trust. All these factors lead to a lesser revenue stream.

So, to maintain a safe online presence, you must update your SSL certificates.

Man-in-the-middle attack or MITM

An MITM attack is a sort of cyberattack in which the attacker surreptitiously sends and may alter correspondence between two parties who believe they are interacting directly with one another.

The attacker makes separate connections with the victims and passes messages between them, providing the impression that they are chatting directly to each other via a private connection while the attacker controls the whole discussion.

Risk of POODLE Attack

POODLE attacks are a vulnerability in SSL version 3.0 protocol, which is a type of MITM attack that exposes sensitive data, such as user information, to malicious attackers. The POODLE attack exploits the protocol version negotiation feature built into SSL/TLS to force the use of SSL v3.0 and decrypt select content within the SSL session. This decryption is done byte by byte, generating numerous connections between the client and server.

To execute POODLE attacks, an attacker must first perform an MITM attack from start to end, hoping the server uses SSL v3.0 or persuade it to use it by performing connection dropouts. If both the MITM attack and the forces protocol succeed, they are vulnerable to the POODLE attack, which an attacker can exploit and gain access to the information communicated between the parties.

The BEAST Attack

BEAST (Browser Exploit Against SSL/TLS) attacks make use of a flaw in Transport-Layer Security (TLS) 1.0 and earlier SSL protocols that use the cypher block chaining (CBC) style of encryption.

It enables attackers to intercept and decode HTTPS client-server connections and collect authentication tokens. It does this by using an MITM, record-splitting, and a well-planned boundary assault.

The BEAST attack shares characteristics with protocol downgrade techniques such as POODLE in that it employs an MITM strategy and leverages CBC weaknesses. The vulnerability was solved in TLS 1.1 and later, although at the time of discovery, no browsers supported TLS 1.1 and newer versions.

Increased Chances of CRIME Attack

The CRIME (Compression Ratio Info-leak Made Easy) vulnerability allows an attacker to hijack an authorized online session. This is accomplished by compression, which might reveal the contents of hidden online cookies. CRIME was awarded the CVE number 2012-4929. It decrypts session cookies from hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) connections using brute force. The CRIME attack causes a susceptible web browser to percolate a cookie authentication produced when a user initiates an HTTPS session with a website. Hackers can use the acquired cookie to get access to the victim’s site account.

Is it hard to renew SSL certificates on time?

In theory, no. This problem may be solved using a variety of easily available certificate management systems. However, the increasing number of headlines about security disasters caused by expired SSL certificates indicates that it may not be so straightforward.

IT and security teams in large enterprises must maintain track of hundreds, if not thousands, of websites and domains and ensure that their certificates are renewed on time.

What’s the problem? Teams are frequently ignorant of all websites and domains that belong to their company and its subsidiaries. Some of these websites and domains may have been built without their knowledge, while others may have been overlooked or abandoned.

Even with the handiest automated solution, you can only monitor SSL certificates for websites and domains that you are aware of.

How to Use Pittsburgh SEO Services Free SSL Certificate Checker

Using our HTTPS SSL Certificate Checker is Simple.

  1. You just have to enter your website’s URL in the required field.
  2. When you are done, our tool will verify the validity and security of your SSL certificate.
  3. In no time, you’ll receive a full report explaining the status of your SSL certificate.

So, you must not leave your website’s security at stake.

Pittsburgh SEO Services’ free HTTPS SSL Certificate Checker ensures that your website’s SSL certificate is up to date and meets industry requirements. Take proactive measures to protect your visitors’ information and increase confidence in your online presence.

Protect your website today with our simple SSL certificate verification tool.

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