Let’s Encrypt initiative adopts first SSL certificate

Let’s Encrypt, which, among other things, civil rights movement EFF is behind, has put its first SSL certificate into use. The certificate is deployed for the secure connection of a helloworld page of the initiative, but it must be installed manually.

Visitors still have to import the ISRG root certificate themselves to be able to reach the Helloworld page encrypted, Let’s Encrypt has not yet been added as a certificate authority to browsers. In a month’s time, the certificate must be automatically validated by all browsers, when IdenTrust starts to cross-sign the certificates of Let’s Encrypt. The project aims for November as a month of wide availability. On Tuesday, Let’s Encrypt submitted an application for inclusion of its root certificate in the trust stores of Apple, Mozilla, Google and Microsoft.

Let’s Encrypt is part of the EFF’s Encrypt the Web initiative to make any site accessible via https. The service will provide free SSL certificates and make it easier to use them. To this end, the EFF is collaborating with Mozilla, Cisco, Akamai, IdenTrust and researchers from the University of Michigan.