With the release of Chrome 56 (estimated for release January 31, 2017), Chrome will be tagging website pages with forms as “not secure” if they don’t have a valid security certificate.
If you’re not sure if your forms are secured, look at the address bar while on your website. If the address is preceded by a green lock icon and the word “Secure”, your site is already secured. However, if you see an icon with a lower case i in a circle the site is not secured. A site that displays both the “Secure” and the i icon is partly secured.
With the new Chrome release, the i icon will be replaced with the words “Not Secure” and probably look something like the image below.
Why are they doing this?
To increase awareness and visibility. Any web page that collects information from a user should be secured. Without a security certificate there is increased risk of a website, and the information it collects, being compromised. This makes it easier for users to see if it’s safe to give their information to a website.
SEO Rankings
In 2014, Google announced it would be giving priority to to SSL enabled websites. This could seriously impact the rankings of any sites that are not secured.
Bottom Line
As hackers and other online bad guys get more creative in their antics, it becomes more important to secure your website. It will probably become mandatory to have a security certificate in the not too distant future.
The “Not Secure” message is going to scare a lot of users. For your, and your users, piece of mind, you should seriously consider getting a security certificate.
Get help setting up your HTTPS