cPanel the web hosting platform has joined hands with web certificate authority company, Comodo CA, in a bid to enable automated SSL encryption for the web. According to cPanel, 90% of all websites do not have SSL encryption that puts the users’ sensitive information at risk. With the joint collaboration, AutoSSL will issue SSL certificates to its web hosting partners’ websites.
Comodo, that claims to secure over 38 million domains, will be helping the web hosting platform to secure 240,000 websites a day. The company provides encryption through Domain Validated (DV) certificates, Organizationally Validated (OV) and Extended Validation (EV) certificates, which both offer identity authentication of the website owner in addition to encryption.
“We’re providing encryption through Domain Validated cPanel certificates at no additional charge to the cost of our software because we think it’s that important to secure the internet,” said J Nick Koston, CEO, cPanel.
“Our goal is to help build a more secure internet, and to get there, we’d like all of our existing customers to enable AutoSSL. We encourage anyone, not currently using cPanel & WHM version 60 or later, to switch or upgrade in order to take advantage of AutoSSL.”
What does Auto SSL do?
AutoSSL is an automation feature included with cPanel & WHM version 60 and later. It discovers and deploys DV cPanel SSL certificates automatically to all websites, logins and endpoints on the server. The company also states that apart from protecting websites, it also enables SSL on areas of the web hosting platform that need encryption. This includes admin-based logins, email and internally running services, as well as renewing expiring certificates.
“The entire internet needs to be secure, encrypted and trusted,” said Michael Fowler, President, Comodo CA. “Because of this, we are excited that the cPanel partnership allows us to secure millions of websites.”
According to cPanel, AutoSSL is available to all customers running cPanel & WHM version 60 or later. The company claims to have already issued more than 5.8 million certificates in November, the first month of its phased-in rollout.