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Web Security: SHA1 SSL Deprecated

You may not be aware that the mechanism used to fingerprint the SSL certificates that  keep your access to websites encrypted and secure is changing. The old method, known as SHA1 is being deprecated – meaning it will no longer be supported. As per January 2016 various vendors will no longer support creating certificates with SHA1, and browsers show warnings when they encounter an old SHA1 certificate. Per January 2017 browsers will reject old certificates.

The new signing method, known as SHA2, has been available for some time. Users have had a choice of signing methods up until now, but there are still many sites using old certificates out there. You may want to check the security on any SSL websites you own or run!

To ensure your users’ security and privacy, force https across your entire website, not just e-commerce or other sections. You may have noticed this move on major websites over the last few years.

For more information on the change from SHA1 to SHA2 you can read:

To test if your website is using a SHA1 or SHA2 certificate you can use one of the following tools:

Open Query also offers a Security Review package, in which we check on a broad range of issues in your system’s front-end and back-end and provide you with an assessment and recommendations. This is most useful if you are looking at a form of security certification.

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