Lock & Key: Data Security and Your Website

Unsecured Websites Expose Your Customers to Needless Risk and Incur SEO Penalties

Does your website handle sensitive customer data such as credit card numbers, names and contact information, or user passwords? If so, then it’s vitally important that your site is properly configured to use the HTTPS protocol, instead of plain HTTP, to safeguard this critical information.

So, what’s the difference between HTTP and HTTPS?
And just what is a protocol, anyway? We won’t get too bogged down in the technical details, but a bit of a crash course may be in order. Protocols are sets of rules that govern how data is transferred between computers on the Web. The big difference that you need to remember is that HTTPS is a secure connection (that’s what the “S” stands for) while plain HTTP is not. An HTTPS connection uses an SSL protocol (Secure Sockets Layer) to provide encryption and other security measures that make it substantially more difficult for hackers, cybercriminals, and other bad actors to interfere with your site and steal or alter valuable data.

HTTPS is rapidly eclipsing plain HTTP as the new standard on the Web.
Encrypted sites have long enjoyed a boost in Google’s search rankings, but earlier this year the search engine giant went a step further, modifying its Chrome browser to mark unsecured HTTP sites with a red danger icon. Other big tech companies, as well as the U.S. government, are also taking steps to push towards more encryption on the Web, while making more vigorous efforts to warn users about risky connections. So, if your site is still using plain, unsecured HTTP, you’re falling behind the times – not to mention, doing your customers and yourself a disservice.

Don’t expose your customers to needless risk, while incurring costly SEO penalties and hurting your brand’s reputation.
The bottom line is that if your website deals with sensitive data, you need to make sure that you’re using an HTTPS connection backed by a valid SSL certificate. If your website isn’t secure and you need to make the switch to HTTPS, or if you’ve got any questions about data security issues pertaining to your site, don’t hesitate to contact us at Rosie’s Creative.