Let's Encrypt project leaves beta, available for all

Apr 12, 2016 15:55 GMT  ·  By

Today, the Let's Encrypt project has officially launched, leaving its beta stage in which it entered last December, being what developers call in the industry a "stable" product.

The project launched in 2012, when four researchers, two from the Mozilla Foundation, and one from the University of Michigan and another one representing the Electronic Frontier Foundation, decided they wanted to provide a simpler and cost-free method of issuing SSL/TLS certificates for the masses.

The project slugged along slowly in the beginning, but quickly gained traction from companies such as Cisco and Akamai, after being incorporated as the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG) in 2013.

Ever since, with the support of more and more Internet and technology companies, the project has been gaining traction, opening for the public in a limited alpha in early 2015, and then opening for a public beta in December 2015.

Let's Encrypt is currently protecting 3.8 million HTTPS domains

The project reached its biggest milestone at the start of March this year when the EFF announced it issued its one millionth certificate. At that time, the EFF said that Let's Encrypt was protecting 2.5 million domains.

According to the most recent numbers, at the time of its official launch, Let's Encrypt issued its 1.7 millionth certificate and is now protecting 3.8 million domains.

Since the best thing about Let's Encrypt is the super-simple process of installing its X.509 TLS certificates, this number is bound to go up, especially after a recent partnership announced with Automattic.

The two companies announced their deal over the weekend, and Automattic says that all WordPress.com blogs running on custom domains can now optionally install a Let's Encrypt certificate with just a few clicks, and migrate all their content to HTTPS.

Let's Encrypt secures sponsorship deals for the upcoming years

Along with the official launch, Let's Encrypt had another surprise for its supporters, saying that both Akamai and Cisco have extended their Platinum sponsorship agreements for the next three years, ensuring the project has enough cash flow to keep its activity going.

Besides Akamai and Cisco, Let's Encrypt also welcomed new Gold sponsor Gemalto and new Silver sponsors HP Enterprise, Fastly, Duda and ReliableSite.net.

One of Let's Encrypt biggest supporters is Mozilla, who recently also launched a new project called Web Literacy Map, an interactive framework for teaching and learning the Internet.

Number of certificates issued by Let's Encrypt project over time
Number of certificates issued by Let's Encrypt project over time

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Let's Encrypt officially launches
Number of certificates issued by Let's Encrypt project over time
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