Get ready to breathe a little easier on the Internet. The Next Web reports that Let's Encrypt, a non-profit company whose goal is to encrypt the whole Web, announced earlier today that its free HTTPS certificates are now trusted by all major browsers.
The company is run by the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG) and backed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mozilla, Cisco Systems, and Akamai. Let's Encrypt first became widely known last year when they said they would offer free HTTPS certificates to anyone owning a domain name. Let's Encrypt will also provide open source tools to automate the process of applying for and receiving the credential, and configuring a website to use it.
Let's Encrypt gave its first certificate out last month and now has the cross-signatures from SSL certificate provider IdenTrust it needed before being able to offer certificates to others.
HTTPS encrypts communications that pass between the server and a site's visitor so that information can't be read or changed by anyone monitoring the connection. It also proves the specific server belongs to the same organization or person who controls the domain, not someone who might pose as that organization.
Some benefits of having a website with HTTPS encryption is that it improves ranking in Google's search results and adheres the site to Apple's mobile device Web content guidelines. And you won't have to wait much longer: Let's Encrypt will start giving the certificates out in November.