If you run all or part of your business online and maintain your own website, then you are well acquainted with the joys of shopping for an affordable SSL server certificate that will perform as consistently and flawlessly as possible. However, SSL certification authorities do not just hand out high-quality free SSL server certificates. Your encrypted portal to the World Wide Web comes at a price.
The most basic SSL server certificate packages aren’t too expensive, but getting one is not a one-time purchase. Depending on the SSL provider you will need to renew your SSL certificate every year or two. If you need to manage multiple domains, need increased security (i.e. better encryption), etc., then you can expect to pay for those features too. Shopping for the right SSL certification authority and the right certificates can be about as much fun as mucking horse stalls in the middle of summer.
“At some point, everyone considers skipping the expense and hassle, and trying one of the numerous “free” SSL server certificates floating around on the web. Deep down we all know better. A hundred aphorisms swirl through your head – You get what you pay for! Nothing I life is free!” – only to be crushed beneath the weight of that ever-present behemoth named “Quarterly Budget “.
Almost invariably, the budget-beast wins out, and understandably so. After all, it becomes very easy to rationalize away those nagging concerns about the quality of a free SSL server certificate when faced with the yearly activation fees of many of the highly regarded SSL certificate packages on the market. After all, how different could a basic free SSL server certificate be from what had been using, really? When it comes down to it, they both identify your website for browsers and encrypt the personal data passed between your computer and the wide-open internet. If all you need is the very basic functions of a SSL server certificate then they should all be about equal.
Right?
The truth is, your really do get what you pay for. To start, free SSL certification authorities are not held to the standards that professional SSL certification authorities are. In fact, most free signed SSL certificates are not really regulated in any way.
As with any unregulated material found on the internet, just downloading something like free SLL server certificates exposes your computer to viruses and Trojan programs that can steal personal information from your computer. On the other hand, even if you do manage to find a clean free SLL server certificate you are not out of the woods.
Most web browsers do not recognize self-signed certificates or free SSL server certificates. This means that instead of being taken to your online business, your would-be customers are given a warning message that your website might be harmful to their computer. Sometimes these errors go away when the page is refreshed and, of course, you can manually choose to accept the page if you know it is safe.
However, just as many browsers do not recognize free SSL certificates; many internet users do not recognize the warning message that a site might not be legitimate does not mean it that the website is definitely harmful. Because of the air of paranoia over computer viruses and online identity thefts, many users will not even read the warning fully. They will just navigate away from the page (your business website) as quickly as possible. Therefore, your free SSL certificate may backfire and cause a loss in revenues.
Those customers who fled could turn out to be the fortunate ones, though. If your website is hacked while you are using a self-signed SSL certificate, then your servers will be compromised. Those customers who ignored the warning that your site might be dangerous are now, ironically, actually one a dangerous website. Any customer buying something from you with a credit card would be giving that credit card information to a hacker.
As much as the idea of a free SSL server certificate may appeal to you, financially, they are simply not reliable and not safe. At the very best, your unrecognized free SLL server authority would harm your business by limiting your intended audiences’ ability to visit your website. At worst, your effort to cut cost could negatively impact your customers’ safety.
