FREE!  SSL Certificates from Let’s Encrypt

We’re pleased to announce that from today ALL clients on our Shared and Business Hosting packages can get a FREE Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificate in seconds via a handy link within your cPanel.

There follows a handy summary of the various SSL products that we offer as well as an introduction to Let’s Encrypt and what they stand for.

Option One:  FREE 90 day Certificates from Let’s Encrypt
Let’s Encrypt is a new Certificate Authority that is completely open and offer free certificates.  It is currently in Beta so bear that in mind if you use it as there may be bugs.  That said we have been testing these certificates for a while and they work just fine. Let’s Encrypt is run by the Internet Security Research Group who are a non profit organisation who exist to reduce barriers to ensure secure and encrypted communication over the internet.  It’s a great aim and something we fully support.

The following has been taken from the Let’s Encrypt Website:
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.

In order to install a FREE! Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificate you may do so via the ‘Let’s Encrypt’ icon located within the Security Section of your cPanel.

You can then test the installation via a website such as SSL Checker:  https://www.sslshopper.com/ssl-checker.html

Option Two:  Comodo (and other Branded Certificates) issued for 1-3 years
You may prefer to trust your security to some of the trusted SSL brands that have been around for many years.  These certificates are not free of cost and start at £22 for 12 months with cheaper pricing for multiple years.

Here at Big Wet Fish Hosting we offer a full range of certificates from all the big names but some of the most popular certificates are listed below:

• Comodo Essential SSL – Domain Validated
• Comodo Extended Verified SSL  – with your company name in the Green Padlocked Address Bar
• Symantec Secure Site SSL
• Geotrust True Business ID SSL (with or without EV Green Bar)

If you are interested in getting a Comodo (most popular) or other branded SSL installed on your website please reach out to our sales team.  We will fully support paid SSLs as described below.

What levels of Support will I receive with my Free! Let’s Encrypt  vs  Paid SSL
In Summary with FREE SSLs you get no support after installation.  With Paid SSLs we will to the best of our ability support its use after installation.

If you are more technically minded in respect to the web  (perhaps a web developer for instance) you will have no issues using the FREE! Let’s Encrypt  SSL with your website but clients whose skillset lies in a different area  may prefer the security of knowing support is there with the £22 paid SSL product.

Here at Big Wet Fish Hosting we are providing the Let’s Encrypt FREE! SSLs with no warranty or guarantees (although we have tested them and they work).  Remember this service is still in Beta.  If you need support in using the FREE! SSLs we will charge a fee to assist you.

First Most Common Query with SSLs:  Why is my Page still showing as insecure & no padlock?
This is something we will always help you fix if you have a paid SSL but we need to charge a fee to help you fix if you use a FREE! SSL.  We recommend:  https://www.whynopadlock.com   that will allow you to see quickly why there is no padlock and you can do to fix it.

Second Most Common Query with SSLs:  How do I get my site completely https:// throughout?
This is something we promise best effort on with Paid SSLs.   For FREE!  SSLs we would charge a  fee to set this up for you.

We hope you have enjoyed this article and we really are excited about the prospect of FREE!  Let’s Encrypt SSLs.  Although it is still in Beta and we offer the certs with no warranty we’re genuinely excited to see what the future holds for Let’s Encrypt.

Resellers, Managed VPS Clients and Dedicated Server clients should reach out to our sales team if you want to offer Let’s Encrypt to your clients and we’ll be happy to advise.

Disclaimer: Let’s Encrypt is in Beta Testing.  cPanel are working on a release to officially support Let’s Encrypt. Once this is released we will be moving to use their officially supported implementation so we may need to revoke all Beta certs and have you re-issue them by the official cPanel means. You use Let’s Encrypt on this understanding at this time.