Apple has announced plans to boost security on its Safari web browser from September.
On September 1, Apple will only display content from websites that have HTTPS certificates issued within the past 13 months, designed to offer more protection to everyday users.
HTTPS is an encrypted version of the standard web protocol HTTP, protecting against the “man in the middle attacks” and ensuring that data remains private until it’s passed from the user to the server.
Though most websites have changed to using HTTPS certificates in recent years following several high-profile data breaches and Google’s algorithm changes, some are still using outdated technology that means their encryption isn’t 100% bulletproof.
At present, Apple currently accepts certificates issued up to 825 days ago, but with the new update in September, certificates issues more than 398 days ago will be rejected, warning users that the SSL certificate is out of date and that the website could be unsafe to use.
Although the new update makes web browsing on iOS and macOS devices safer, some say that it makes websites more dependent on third-party SSL services such as Let’s Encrypt.
Though these are free, there’s no guarantee that they will issue updated certificates forever.
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