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Why a security certificate that has expired could be a cause of a network failure.

By Dylan Smith 29 July, 2023 2 mins read

An expired security certificate can be a cause of your website going down. The expiration of an SSL certificate can lead to a variety of problems, from blocking users from your site to exposing your network to malicious attacks.

The browser of a visitor to your site will check the validity of the SSL certificate in milliseconds. If this certificate is expired, a browser warning will appear saying "This connection does not feel private" or that "This site doesn't feel secure".

Note that the message warns your site visitors that information they provide is not safe. The warning will also impact your bounce rate, as visitors will quickly click away from your page to go somewhere else.

Cybercriminals may also infect networks with malware or steal sensitive data using expired certificates. They can get in between the browser and server communication, pretending to be a legitimate customer or website.

A certificate expiring can cause a catastrophic outage of the network

After an SSL expires, the encryption of communication between a web browser and its user is no longer possible. This can cause an outage which affects the entire structure of an organisation.

It is important that enterprises keep track of SSL certificates. Then, they'll be able to renew them before they expire.

Although there are many tools that can help organizations at the enterprise level keep track and renew their SSL certifcates on time, nothing beats a solid certificate management platform. These platforms allow you to see all of your SSL certificate information and automate when they expire.

Your business and clients are at risk

The certificate can be compromised even if your business is secure because it uses SSL. This is due to cybercriminals being able to reissue the SSL certificate with their information on it. Your business will then become unreachable.

Your users may also be exposed to threats such phishing attacks, man in the middle attacks, or SSL stripping. These attacks allow attackers access to a user's account or credit card information.

A digital certificate that had expired would have made it much easier to detect the Equifax breach in 2017, which exposed personal data of millions of users. The company's security team could not inspect the traffic on its network so missed the hack for 10 months.

It can be difficult for businesses to detect outages and fix them when certificates have expired. Epic Games suffered from a certificate expired that resulted in widespread outages for Fortnite Rocket League Houseparty Epic Games Store.

There are ways to avoid these types of incidents by managing your security certificates. The right tools can help your company keep up with hundreds or even dozens of SSL certificates currently expiring.

FAQ

WordPress is a CMS.

The answer is yes. It's a Content Management System. CMS allows you to manage the content of your website from within a web browser, instead of using applications like Dreamweaver and Frontpage.

WordPress is free! Hosting, which is usually provided by your ISP, is free.

WordPress was initially created as a blogging platform, but it now offers many other options such as eCommerce sites, forums and membership websites. Portfolios are also available.

WordPress is easy and quick to install. Download the file from their website, and then upload it to your server. You can then visit your domain name using your web browser to log in to your new website.

After installing WordPress, you'll need to register for a username and password. Once you log in, you will be able to access your settings from a dashboard.

You can now add pages, posts and images to your site. If editing and creating new content is easier for you, skip this step.

You can also hire a professional web design firm to help you with the whole process.

Are there any technical skills required to design and build my site?

No. All you need to understand HTML and CSS. You can easily find tutorials online that teach both HTML and CSS.

What is a responsive website design?

Responsive Web Design is a method of designing responsive websites. It allows content to display on all devices (desktop computers, tablets and smartphones), so that it can be viewed easily on any device. This allows users access all features of a website, including navigation menus, buttons and buttons, on one device. RWD is designed to ensure that a user can view a site on any size screen.

For example, if you were building a website for a company whose products sell primarily through eCommerce, you would want to ensure that even if a customer viewed your website on a smartphone, they could easily purchase items from your store.

Responsive websites will adjust their layout according to the device that is being used. So, viewing the site on your laptop will look like a standard desktop website. It will be different if the page is viewed from your phone.

This means that you can create one website that looks great across all devices.

Statistics

Did you know videos can boost organic search traffic to your website by 157%? (wix.com)
At this point, it's important to note that just because a web trend is current, it doesn't mean it's necessarily right for you.48% of people cite design as the most important factor of a website, (websitebuilderexpert.com)
It's estimated that in 2022, over 2.14 billion people will purchase goods and services online. (wix.com)
It enables you to sell your music directly on your website and keep 100% of the profits. (wix.com)
In fact, according to Color Matters, a signature color can boost brand recognition by 80%. There's a lot of psychology behind people's perception of color, so it's important to understand how it's used with your industry. (websitebuilderexpert.com)

External Links

en.wikipedia.org

w3.org

blog.hubspot.com

interaction-design.org

How To

How do I choose between CMSs?

In general, there are two types of Content Management System (CMS) Web Designers use Static HTML and Dynamic CMS. WordPress is the most used CMS. Joomla is a great CMS to use if you want your website to look professional and well-organized. Joomla! is an open-source CMS that allows you to create any type of website design. It's simple to install and configure. Joomla comes with thousands upon thousands of templates and extensions, so you don’t need to hire an expert to set up your site. Joomla is easy to use and free to download. There are many benefits of choosing Joomla for your project.

Joomla is a powerful tool which allows you to easily manage every aspect your website. It offers features like a drag-and-drop editor, multiple template support and image manager. You can also manage your blog, blog, eCommerce, news feeds, and more. Joomla's many features make it a great option for anyone who doesn't want to spend hours learning code.

Joomla supports nearly all devices. This is a great feature. You can easily create websites for multiple platforms with Joomla.

There are many reasons that Joomla is preferable to WordPress. Some of them include: