Let's Encrypt makes certs for 30% of web domains (leebutterman.com)

Article summary

Let's Encrypt issues certificates for almost 30% of web domains, with over 47 million domains protected. The organization's automated certificate issuance process has led to a significant increase in the use of HTTPS on the web. However, the analysis also found that many websites still use outdated security protocols, such as RC4 and TLS 1.0. Additionally, some certificates have extremely long lifetimes, with thousands expiring after the year 3000.

Main themes

• Let's Encrypt
• HTTPS adoption
• security protocols
• certificate issuance
• web security

What commenters say

• The centralization of certificate issuance with Let's Encrypt poses a single-point-of-failure risk for web security.
• Decentralizing certificate issuance could improve security, but it also increases the attack surface.
• Let's Encrypt's compliance with US sanctions limits its ability to issue certificates to certain countries and entities.
• Alternative, non-US certificate authorities are needed to provide more options for website owners.
• The use of outdated security protocols, such as RC4 and TLS 1.0, is still prevalent on the web.
• Let's Encrypt's automated certificate issuance process has been successful in increasing HTTPS adoption, but its limitations and potential vulnerabilities need to be addressed.
• A decentralized organization for certificate issuance could be based on a trust network similar to GPG, but its feasibility and security are uncertain.
• The lack of transparency and control in the current certificate issuance system is a concern for website owners and users.