Google Chrome now shows warning for all non-secure sites
In the latest version of Google’s Chrome browser (v53), website visitors are now explicitly warned if the website they’re visiting isn’t secured by an SSL certificate.
Other browsers, and older versions of Chrome, take the issue of security less seriously – they’ll show you if a site is secured, by having the green padlock next to the URL, but don’t do anything if it’s not.
Whereas the new version of Chrome uses the ! character next to the URL to warn a site is unsecured – not too obtrusively at the moment, but we suspect it’ll gain greater prominence over time.
This all fits with Google’s ongoing push to encourage website owners to use SSL on their websites, so that any data passed between the site and the user (such as name & email addresses sent via a web form) is encrypted. Good sense of course – although there is also the case that Google is passing over the cost and responsibility of web privacy, for which they are always the first port of call by any political or investigating authority, to website owners instead.
Getting an SSL certificate installed on your website isn’t too tricky or time consuming – give us a call or drop us an email to talk about securing your site and avoiding Chrome labelling it “insecure”.