In the recent past, cybersecurity has been the focus of attention for organizations, governments, and individuals. Among the most crucial issues is to protect unpublished information since cyber hackers have become creative and advanced. Among the most efficient options when seeking ways to secure your website is using an SSL certificate.
An SSL certificate (Secure Sockets Layer) is a gatekeeper that scrambles the raw data passed between web servers and browsers, rendering it impossible to access for any outside party. However, merely having an SSL certificate is not enough. It is just as important to follow the best security practices in maintaining the quality and authenticity of your SSL. In this blog, we shall discuss the ten best practices regarding SSL certificates.
10 SSL Certificate Security Best Practices
1. Select the Proper Type of SSL Certificate
The first step towards securing your website is to get an appropriate SSL certificate. There are several types that one can choose from, which include the following:
- Domain Validated (DV) Certificates: These are the most common type and minimal encryption certificates, which, however, do not guarantee any validation of the website owner’s identity.
- Organization Validated (OV) Certificates: They are one step more than DV certificates because they provide encryption to my website and authenticate the organization behind the website.
- Extended Validation (EV) Certificates: EV SSL Certs are the most premium sort of all certificates, and they are the ultimate validators and trust givers to the users; they display a green address bar in the browser.
The kind of certificate you need will also depend on what kind of website you are hosting. For e-commerce websites, an EV certificate would be advisable, since this type offers the highest trust. However, if you seek something that costs less and can get the same ciphers, then you can go with a DV or OV Certificate. For any of your requirements, you need to find a reliable and cheap SSL provider that fits your requirements and budget.
2. Renewal of SSL certificates regularly
SSL certificates are valid for a period of about one to two years after issuance. The renewal process must also be managed when the expiry date is close, as this can cause service disruptions or distrust from users.
The browser will then post several warnings to the effect that the website is not safe after the SSL certificate of a website stops updating. Such an unfortunate anomaly can then cause some SEO problems and disengage visitors from the site.
3. Keep Up-to-date Encryption Protocols
The strength of your SSL certificate encryption will be very important in securing data transmitted between your website and your users. Older encryption protocols become obsolete as new ones are developed, leaving them open to attacks.
TLS (Transport Layer Security): TLS is considered a successor to SSL. Use the latest version of TLS, such as TLS 1.2 or 1.3.
Avoid SSL 2.0 and SSL 3.0: Older versions are no longer secure, so disable them on your server.
Ensure your server is set up to use strong ciphers and disable any weak or old ones, like RC4 or DES.
4. Use a Strong Private Key
It is the core security on your website, used with your SSL certificate. It may provide your attackers with a pathway to decrypt your data when they are transferred from the server to the client if your private key is compromised.
Protecting Your Private Key:
- Use Strong Key Length: Use at least 2048-bit RSA keys.
- Safeguard your private key: Keep it safe, preferably in a Hardware Security Module (HSM), and certainly not in open public access.
- Utilize Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC): ECC offers stronger security with shorter key lengths; for instance, 256-bit ECC is more secure than a 2048-bit RSA key.
5. Proper Installation and Configuration
Improper installation and configuration of SSL certificates may present entry points because of mixed content errors, bad cipher suites, or improper chaining of SSLs.
Install your SSL certificate properly. Be sure to: install the entire certificate chain according to the vendor installation instructions; ensure that the correct SSL/TLS versions and cipher suites are defined on the server; and match the certificate for the domain and validate its certificate.
A misconfigured SSL certificate may not be recognized by browsers as secure, which means that security risks may arise.
6. Implement HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS)
HSTS is a security feature that tells the browser to use only HTTPS in connecting to your website, thus preventing attacks like SSL stripping. Adding HSTS to your site ensures visitors’ browsers connect to your site only through a secure connection. This improves security greatly.
Steps To Add HSTS:
- Include the ‘Strict-Transport-Security’ header in your server response.
- Set the ‘max age’ directive to a reasonable value; usually, this is at least 6 months.
- Apply the ‘include Subdomains’ option to implement HSTS across the entire subdomain.
Ensure, however, that your website is fully accessible over HTTPS before allowing HSTS, as this would lock people out of their websites.
7. Regularly Test Your SSL Configuration
SSL certificates and their configurations will be outdated with time, and thus, you should scan your website from time to time to ensure that the SSL configuration is not vulnerable.
There are several online tools to check the security of your SSL certificate and its configuration. Some of these online tools include SSL Labs’ SSL Test. These checks include:
- Expired or invalid certificates
- Weak encryption protocols
- Improper certificate chain
- Mixed content warnings
- It helps you to identify your vulnerabilities early enough and solve them before they become big problems.
8. Deploy a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
You will be adding another layer of security to your website because the CDN will distribute your content across various servers worldwide. Most of the CDNs come with SSL certificates, DDoS protection, and performance optimization.
Before deploying a CDN:
- The SSL certificate of the CDN is configured.
- The CDN caches the SSL content safely so that private data is kept away from unknown parties.
- The communication of your web server with the CDN is encrypted.
9. Contemplate Multi-Domain or Wildcard Certificates for Better Management
You find managing multiple domains or subdomains a nuisance; this tends to complicate the handling of SSL certificates on different domains.
This can become easy with either the multi-domain SAN certificate or a wildcard certificate.
Wildcard SSL certificates protect all the subdomains of any single domain; you no longer have to acquire and deal with multiple certificates.
Multi-domain (SAN) certificates enable you to secure several domains with a single certificate, making management easier and more cost-effective.
However, you must still validate each domain or subdomain covered while ensuring that nothing critical gets missed because of security loopholes.
10. Monitor SSL Certificate Logs and Alerts
Lastly, monitor your SSL certificates constantly for any indication of misuse or compromise. Install alerts to inform you when the following happens:
- Your certificate is about to expire.
- Changes have been made to your SSL configuration.
- New certificates are added or removed.
You can quickly handle any problem that may arise before it develops into a bigger issue by monitoring SSL certificate logs and configuring alerts.
Conclusion
SSL certificates are critical to website security, but their efficacy is only as good as their implementation and management.
Adherence to these top 10 SSL certificate security best practices can minimize the risk of data breaches, enhance your site’s reputation, and protect your users’ sensitive information.
Always update SSL certificates, perform proper configurations, and keep updating the latest security threats; your site will become safer in this ever-evolving digital scenario.