Published on: 16th February 2017
1 in 10 people in England and Wales have been victims of cybercrime in past year. The office for national statistics in July 2016 said there had been 5.8 million incidents of cybercrime in the past year, far more than previously thought and double the headline crime in England and Wales.
Multinational technology companies specialising in internet related services and the UK Government are investing billions of pounds over the next five years in response.
January 2017 - Google have introduced a new update this month for Google Chrome in a bid to crack down on security and help users browse the web safely in an effort to combat the increasing rise in cybercrime. This new change means that Google Chrome will begin to warn users against any sites that do not use encrypted connections (HTTPS), and are considered a danger to security and privacy by labelling websites as 'NOT SECURE'.
What does this mean for your website?
Google Chrome may not be the common browser used within your business or organisation today, however statistics show as of December 2016, Chrome has 56.43% of the browser market share.
This means a high percentage of your website users are using Chrome and if you don’t have the right Secure Socket Layer (SSL) in place, the Google Chrome user on your website will be told in the address bar ‘NOT SECURE’.
A second release scheduled by Google will show a prominent red warning triangle in your browser window, like the example below, which will indicate that your website is not secure:
How can you make sure your website is secure and improve user experience?
Frank Design/Frank Health recommend that we purchase an SSL certificate on your behalf for your business or organisation. We will ensure the SSL certificate purchased best suits the needs of your website and delivers the following benefits;
- Instil confidence in your users that your website is secure and private information is protected
- Build customer trust in your business/organisation/brand
- Improve your Google ranking as you appear higher in results now you are considered ‘SECURE’
- Protect internal data through encryption
- Protect customer and guest accounts from email fraud (phishing)
What will happen if you decide not to purchase the correct SSL certificate?
- Your page ranking may drop as Google’s security initiative estimates that 50% of all websites will be labelled ‘SECURE’ by the end of 2017, favouring websites that are considered ‘SECURE’ and penalise those which are not.
- Your users may feel a level of distrust using your website if the site is labelled 'NOT SECURE', especially when inputting sensitive information such as passwords and card details.
- Attackers or intrusive companies could tamper with the data sent between your website and your users’ browsers; therefore your site would not be fully protected from malware.
- If you have an ecommerce site, e.g. a shop where users must enter card details, users may choose to go to competitors if they feel your site is 'NOT SECURE', which could potentially affect your business or organisation financially.
Get in touch
Get in touch with Frank to discuss your website security by calling the office on 0161 273 5354 or emailing Holly Dutton at holly@frankdesignltd.co.uk and we will ensure you have the right SSL Certificate for your website.