Let’s Encrypt has announced that its billionth certificate was issued today. By automating the issuance of website certificates, Let’s Encrypt hoped to increase the number of HTTPS-compatible websites, making the web more secure for everyone. The announcement comes just a week after Let’s Encrypt introduced support for multi-perspective domain validation.
Commenting on its growth since June 2017, Josh Aas and Sarah Gran from Let’s Encrypt said the project now serves nearly 192 million websites, up from 46 million. Since that time, it has recruited two more full-time staff members, bringing the total to 13, and has seen its annual budget rise from $2.61 million to $3.35 million.
Overall since June 2017, HTTPS page loads have increased from 58% globally to 81%, while in the U.S. alone, that figure has gone from 64% to 91%. By opting to use HTTPS, websites allow visitors to connect with a secure connection, preventing any hackers from performing man-in-the-middle type attacks.
Let’s Encrypt left beta in April 2016, by September that year it had issued 10 million certificates and reached 100 million issued certificates by June 2017. It has taken several years but now it has reached 1 billion issued certificates.