Web host and internet domain registrar
GoDaddy revoked over 8,000 SSL certificates recently. With headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States, GoDaddy is the largest domain name provider globally. It is also recognized as one of the planet’s leading web hosting providers with services that target small to medium-sized businesses. Alongside SSL certificates the company’s services extend to small business marketing solutions, online productivity solutions and website security solutions. Its problems were caused by a security flaw which could be have been exploited by malicious parties (although there are no reports that it was exploited).
SSL certificates offer a layer of protection through the encryption of connections between servers and browsers. Sites with SSL certificates include ‘https’ at the beginning of a URL and help protect sensitive data, especially financial data transferred during online transactions. GoDaddy’s problems were caused by software issues that resulted in issued SSL certificates not being properly validated. This means some of GoDaddy’s customers’ websites may have been online without full protection.
“On Friday, Jan. 6, we learned about a bug that impacted our SSL certification validation process”, explained and announcement posted on GoDaddy’s website January 10, 2017. “The bug was introduced on July 29, 2016, and impacted less than 2 percent of the certificates issued from July 29, 2016, to Jan. 10, 2017. It affected approximately 6,100 customers.” The announcement added, “The software bug that created the issue has been remedied. We continue to closely monitor the system. We will revoke these certificates at 9 p.m. (PST) Jan. 10, 2017. We are actively working with our customers to reissue their SSL certificates.”
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