Here at OIT, we treat security very seriously. We constantly are updating our networks, servers and PCs to ensure that our data private and free from corruption. Recently, companies such as Google, Facebook and Twitter have been leading the charge to encourage encryption everywhere on the Internet. Google has even begun warning users of their Chrome browser that certain sites have weak encryption and soon will warn users of sites that do not use encryption at all.
To meet this challenge head-on, OIT has begun transitioning our services to “encrypted everywhere” when possible. This web site takes advantage of one of the more exciting advances in web security from Let’s Encrypt at https://letsencrypt.org/ . One of the major roadblocks preventing companies (and particularly non-profits such as ourselves) from encrypting all of their Internet traffic is the cost. Security Certificates know as SSL or TLS certificates are required to encrypt traffic to and from web browsers. To get a trusted certificate, companies need to shell out hundreds of dollars. The first certificates we purchased years ago were nearly $1,000 per year! Now, through organizations like Let’s Encrypt, OIT can secure web sites for free using trusted, high quality certificates. This site has even received an A+ security rating from Qualys’ SSL Labs.
