Self-signed SSL-certificates: why is using them risky?

Many companies, faced with the necessity of buying an SSL-certificate, often turn their attention to the free alternative - self-signed certificates. But is it really an effective solution? Does it help save money? Will it not lead to extra costs? These are the questions we will answer.

Self-signed certificates: economy, which can lead to huge losses

Today it is very common to see sites which have installed self-signed certificates. Such certificates display a notification in the browser that the site is unprotected, and therefore it is unsafe to visit. The user must confirm that he accepts the certificate, i.e. he/she is aware of the risks that he/she may face. And risks can be huge, for example the theft of personal data. As a result, it is possible to lose large amounts of money from your debit or credit card or jeopardise your business and reputation.

For these reasons, users rarely accept self-signed certificates. Practice shows that 9 out of 10 users refuse to proceed to the website if they see a pop-up notification. The owners of such sites may suffer huge losses due to the lack of users, resulting in a drop in search engine position. Businesses can be crushed.

Self-signed certificates are unsafe. Ordinary users cannot distinguish valid self-signed certificates from the fake ones created by hackers specifically for MitM (Man in the Middle) attacks. They are substantially similar in appearance and differ only in small areas fields. 99% of users that have accepted a self-signed certificate before, also accepted a certificate from an attacker, not even thinking about any validation checks.

Self-signed certificates are convenient only because being issued them is easier and faster than being issued standard SSL-certificates. But such simplicity hides a serious gap in security, allowing hackers to effortlessly release a fake self-signed certificate in order to intercept data transmission.

Trusted SSL-certificates - "fireproof safety" for your data

Trusted certificates from major certification authorities - the only reliable solution to protect all transactions made online. Additional protection from intruders is the certificate pinning. Under pinning means the designation of all CAs that have the right to issue certificates for a given domain name. This approach is recommended for all large organizations and corporations.

If you want flawless reliability, stability and protection against data interception, we recommend that you buy yourself trusted SSL-certificates from well-known CAs. It’s better to spend money once for a quality solution than to invest astronomical sums in the restoration of your business and your reputation online.