How Let's Encrypt made the internet safer and HTTPS standard – and free

10 months ago

Let's Encrypt was created to address the high cost and complexity of obtaining SSL/TLS certificates, making HTTPS standard and free.
Before Let's Encrypt, only 6.71% of the top million websites used HTTPS, highlighting the need for widespread encryption.
Let's Encrypt introduced the Automated Certificate Management Environment (ACME) protocol, automating certificate issuance, renewal, and revocation.
The Internet Security Research Group (ISRG), a nonprofit, was established to oversee Let's Encrypt, prioritizing transparency and public service.
Let's Encrypt's free, automated 90-day domain-validated certificates democratized web encryption, leading to HTTPS adoption soaring from below 7% to 88.1%.
Google's policy changes, like ranking HTTPS sites higher and marking non-HTTPS sites as insecure, further accelerated HTTPS adoption.
Let's Encrypt's success has inspired ISRG to expand efforts into memory safety in internet infrastructure, such as supporting Rust in the Linux kernel.

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