Earlier this week EFF released Certbot 1.0, the latest version of our free, open source tool that helps websites encrypt their traffic. The release of 1.0 is a significant milestone for the project and is the culmination of the work done over the past few years by EFF and hundreds of open source contributors from around the world.
Certbot was first released in 2015 to automate the process of configuring and maintaining HTTPS encryption for site administrators by obtaining and deploying certificates from Let’s Encrypt. Since its initial launch, many features have been added, including beta support for Windows, automatic nginx configuration, and support for over a dozen DNS providers for domain validation.
Certbot is part of EFF’s project to encrypt the web. Using HTTPS instead of unencrypted HTTP protects people from eavesdropping, content injection, and cookie stealing, which can be used to take over your online accounts. Since the release of Let’s Encrypt and Certbot, the percentage of web traffic using HTTPS has increased from 40% to 80%. This is significant progress in building a web that is encrypted by default but there is more work to be done.
The release of 1.0 officially marks the end of Certbot’s beta phase, during which it has helped over 2 million users maintain HTTPS access to over 20 million websites. We’re very excited to see how many more users, and more websites, Certbot will assist in 2020 and beyond.
It’s thanks to our 30,000+ members that we’re able to maintain Certbot and push for 100% encrypted web.
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The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF champions user privacy, free expression, and innovation through impact litigation, policy analysis, grassroots activism, and technology development. We work to ensure that rights and freedoms are enhanced and protected as our use of technology grows. Visit https://www.eff.org