Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

Let's Encrypt project

Qrator Labs supports as the sponsor, one of the projects developed by EFF – Let’s Encrypt. This project is directed to increasing the level of security of the websites due to creation of the free, automated certificate authority for issue of SSL certificates on connection enciphering.

The HTTP protocol has a number of shortcomings. It does not provide protection against listening from intelligence agencies, Internet service providers and malefactors. It allows to monitor users and to abduct their personal data, including passwords.

HTTPS uses enciphering of transmitted data under the SSL or TLS protocol. To raise the security level on the Internet, it is necessary to use the encoded connection with the websites. However today obtaining certificates for the HTTPS connection installation is difficult and, as a rule, the paid procedure. For work of certificates it is necessary to provide their confirmation that requires some technical costs, and very often the prices are unfairly high.

The cost of certificates and complexity of setup of servers for work with enciphering are basic reasons on which the majority of the websites continues to function only under the HTTP protocol. For the purpose of fight against these problems of Electronic Frontier Foundation together with the companies Mozilla Cisco Akamai, IdenTrust also University of Michigan starts own certificate authority which will begin work in December, 2015.

The free certificates issued by this center will be accepted by any browser and the mobile device. It is supposed that it will lead to growth of number of the ciphered data and, therefore, to providing higher level of protection of the user. Besides, in popular search systems, including Google, by HTTPS websites are ranged above, than the HTTP websites. Security of transmitted data is not so important for many companies as positions in search issue that it will also promote increase in number of the encoded connections.