Internet is not a very safe place for confidential chatting. There are thousands of prying eyes waiting to loot our personal information, address, phone number and credit card information. That’s why most companies use the secure HTTP protocol (HTTPS) when processing confidential tasks. Today we are going to talk about Https and the debate about whether we really need it on our WordPress sites.

Some technical issues

HTTP is a protocol used by web servers and clients (browsers) to communicate and transfer web pages and files. There are a lot of other protocols like FTP, SSH and BitTorrent.

HTTPS is a secure version of the HTTP protocol that uses SSL encryption (Secured Socket Layer). How SSL works in the background requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a solid knowledge of cryptography. All this is very complicated and we just have to keep in mind the following:

In a nutshell, HTTPS uses a public and private key set before data transfer. Once the union does this, the connection is established and a secure session is started. When we visit an HTTPS site, all this happens almost instantly before you see the green light in your browser’s address bar.

Four reasons why HTTPS is important

1. First security category: With SSL, the connection is encrypted. A virtual tunnel is created through which only the server and the browser can communicate. No one else can interpret that channel. Even if an attacker accesses that channel, they would not be able to make sense of the encrypted data. You would need the private key that is only known by the browser.

2. Preview: HTTPS requires an SSL certificate and the acquisition of the latter for a company to go through a serious process. It is necessary to have official documents that are presented and verified by the certificate authorizer (CA). Only when the documents pass the validation tests, the SSL certificate is issued.

3. Legitimate Companies: When we visit a secure SSL site, we can be sure of the credibility of the site. You can always get the necessary contact information from the site’s SSL certificate owner.

4. Data Integrity: Data integrity refers to the consistency of the requested data and the actual data received. Consider this example: Someone visits your site for a certain input of server configuration instructions. At the end of the post, we have affiliate link placed .. In an unsafe site, an attacker could easily attack the connection and send your visitor the compromised data. In all likelihood, it will replace your affiliate network, with a phishing link. Therefore there is a monumental difference in the data requested and the data actually received. The integrity of the data is destroyed. With SSL, none of this is possible!

Here is the trick:

Establishing a secure connection requires considerable computing power, both by the server and the client. This results in a slower transfer rate when compared to HTTP. That’s why most sites do not use HTTPS all the time. They wait until the moment they try to access or make a purchase. E-commerce sites like Amazon and Newegg follow this rule. This way the navigation is fast and the purchases are safe.

Is HTTPS really needed on my WordPress site?

Good question, but it is not a simple yes or no answer. So let’s discuss this in detail.

Here’s a quote from a recent post on the Google Webmaster Central blog .

This does not mean that if we do not have HTTPS on our site, the SERP ranking will fall (for now). Most SEOs take this as an early indicator of what the future holds. Many people complain and question Google’s decision. Why does everyone have to include HTTPS on their blog? To prevent hackers from reading user comments? Even Google’s Webmaster Blog does not use SSL!

Scenarios where sites should use HTTPS

There are a lot of situations where HTTPS should be used as an additional layer of security. Here are some examples to apply:

1. E-Commerce Stores

If you are running a WordPress store using WooCommerce or iThemes Exchange, it would be more advisable to use HTTPS on the site transaction pages. As we all know, HTTPS is slower than HTTP and therefore leads to an impact on the user’s browsing experience. However, when it comes to someone’s confidential information like address, phone number or credit card details, sacrificing speed over security is a must. You should always use HTTPS in the following scenarios:

• A new user is registered or logged in.
• A user is about to make a payment

2. Donation Pages

Some sites show a small donate button in their sidebar and almost all of them do not use HTTPS. This is what can go wrong. Because the site is not secured, the attacker can easily manipulate site data to display fraudulent information, such as replacing the PayPal donation button with a phishing site. When a visitor clicks on that fraudulent link, your account is at risk of being compromised. Therefore, if we are using a Donate button on our site, try to incorporate SSL.

3. Membership Sites

A large number of Internet entrepreneurs run private forums and post offices that use WordPress. Such sites carry private data. Data you do not want the public to see. If SSL is used in these cases, you can eliminate data integrity threats and create a secure environment for your members to interact with. It’s like hitting two birds with one stone:

• Greater security
• Increases customer confidentiality and trust

4. Hacked sites in the past

If our site is a victim of a targeted attack or was hacked recently, then you should seriously consider switching to a site with encrypted SSL. To recover from a hacked site can be done using personal experience and / or help from WordPress security experts.

To protect you from future attacks and add an extra layer of security, use HTTPS throughout your site. However, because SSL consumes a lot of server resources, the site could become quite slow depending on the server configuration. If you do not want that, you can also selectively use SSL only on login pages and while working in the WordPress admin panel.

Configuring SSL in WordPress

Configuring SSL is a complicated and tedious process. It requires technical expertise, a lot of time and there are plenty of possibilities for error. It is recommended that you speak to the hosting support team to help launch SSL. If we are determined to switch to an HTTPS site, then it is a safe bet to assume that our budget can incorporate the cost of a managed WordPress hosting company.

I use Namecheap and my site is protected from hackers, malware and DDoS attacks. Companies like Namecheap give us the option to buy an integrated SSL certificate. The cost varies from 29 to 143 dollars per year for a dedicated accommodation. You can also use the services of a third party for SSL that will help you to install and configure HTTPS on your site. In the following  video tutorials you can see how to install ssl in namecheap hosting:

conclusion

You have the last word. What are your thoughts on this particular topic? Whether or not HTTPS? Have you used SSL on your site before? Share your opinion with us!

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