Web hosting provider, eukhost, has announced its sponsorship of Let’s Encrypt – a certificate authority that provides free SSL and TLS certificates for websites. The sponsorship deal will last for an initial 12 months with the company having the option to extend its support over the long-term.
Let’s Encrypt, which is operated by the non-profit Internet Security Research Group (ISRG), aims to provide better Internet security and privacy by giving free digital certificates to websites. SSL and TLS play a key role in online security, encrypting communications between websites and users’ browsers. Websites which have the certificates have addresses beginning with HTTPS and their security is highlighted to Internet users via a padlock icon on the browser.
eukhost says it fully supports the aims of Let’s Encrypt: as a web hosting provider, it recognizes how its certificates protect both the website and the Internet user from data theft. “Easy to obtain, securely configured and automatically renewed,” the free Let’s Encrypt certificates can be installed by eukhost customers from within their control panels.
200 Million Websites
“Encryption is no longer an option but a necessity for websites,” said Robert King, Director at eukhost. “We have been encouraging our customers to get SSL certificates for many years. Through our sponsorship of Let’s Encrypt, we can contribute to this very important project and, hopefully, persuade even more of our customers to install their certificates and make their sites more secure.”
Let’s Encrypt has issued over one billion SSL and TLS certificates since its formation in 2014 and, today, serves over 200 million websites. During that time, global page loads using HTTPS have grown from 58% to 81%, stated eukhost. The company joins a list of other sponsors, including Chrome, Facebook, IBM and Mozilla.
eukhost is a web hosting solutions provider operating from its registered office in Leeds, UK, with data centers located in Wakefield, Nottingham, Maidenhead and York. It has over 18 years’ presence in the web hosting industry and hosts over 250,000 domains for more than 35,000 customers.
