Google warns: Secure your website
Written by: Isabelle

Security for websites are undergoing major changes. The extent of these changes is comprehensive and will affect all websites using HTTP:

The implementation of the changes has been done gradually and the “final” date has been changed several times, but according to Google (8th of Febuary 2018) you will need to make your website secure by the beginning of July. If you still have a website using HTTP after this your visitors will see this when using Chrome:

secure your website

Why HTTPS?

HTTP has been used for many years, but has a major flaw. All data transfered via HTTP can be stolen or manipulated because it’s not secured.

HTTPS is secured and ensures all data transferred is encrypted and protected. We can therefore understand why web browsers now will require the use of HTTPS as standard.

The data is not only protected and encrypted but using HTTPS will give up to 5% increased visibility in search engines and more options for your mobile website. HTTPS also enables the use of HTTP/2 which provides 20-30% faster page load compared to HTTP.

How do I get HTTPS?

In order to get HTTPS your website needs to have an SSL certificate. Choosing the correct SSL certificate can be confusing. We recommend reading “SSL certificate – how to choose the right one”. Please do not hesitate to contact us and we will help you choosing the right SSL certificate for your website.

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Symantec is now powered by DigiCert!
Written by: Isabelle

Symantec is one of the worlds leading certificate authority (CA) and have now entered a collaboration with DigiCert. Fall of 2017 the two partnered to form the worlds leading CA.

If you haven’t heard the exciting news, Symantec, the world’s foremost Certificate Authority, is now powered by DigiCert, another industry titan. This past Fall, Symantec and DigiCert went into business together and formed the most powerful Certificate Authority in the world.

We know you’ve probably got a lot of questions. So here’s a quick explanation of why this happened, what to expect and when you’ll start to see changes.

The world’s most powerful CA

Symantec’s new partnership with DigiCert truly is a perfect match—the two CAs are a perfect complement for one another. Now Symantec’s premium security offerings, powerful add-ons and unmistakable recognition will be undergirded by DigiCert’s industry-best validation practices and mechanisms, along with its universally trusted PKI.

Customers can expect to see:

  • The same great Symantec and DigiCert products
  • Streamlined validation that cuts days off issuance
  • A universally trusted PKI
  • Continued trusted status from browsers
  • The latest encryption and hashing algorithms

Why did Symantec and DigiCert merge?

Symantec and Google had been negotiating for months regarding issues with Symantec’s PKI. After coming to an agreement on a fix, Symantec sold its SSL and PKI division to DigiCert in exchange for $950-million. Symantec also now has a 30% stake in DigiCert.

What does this partnership accomplish?

In the interim, it will keep all of Symantec’s currently issued digital certificates trusted. In the long run? The two companies will slowly merge, identifying the strength of each and using them to build a new, more efficient CA. The new PKI system is expected to go-live on December 1, 2017. This means all new, reissued, or renewed SSL certificates issued after December 1, 2017 will be publicly trusted across all browsers.

Your Action is Required

In order for this transition to work as smoothly as possible, you may need to re-validate and re-issue your SSL certificates from DigiCert’s new PKI. Don’t worry, we will guide you seamlessly through this industry transition. This process will be quick and painless, and most important: FREE. All impacted customers will receive detailed instructions via email about how-to re-issue your SSL certificate.

The re-issue process will take place in multiple phases. There is a strategy behind this transition and when to re-issue your SSL certificate based on the issue date, expiration date, and browser timeline. The start date for re-issuing your SSL certificates is after December 1, 2017.

  • If your SSL Certificate was issued before June 1, 2016, you have until March 15, 2018 to re-issue your SSL certificate.
  • If your SSL Certificate was issued after June 1, 2016 you have until September 13, 2018 to re-issue your SSL certificate.

Here is a visual representation of the upcoming dates:

We’re here to help!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns regarding this transition, feel free to contact us.

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How to build your own webshop?
Written by: Simon A. Skaar

Regardless if you are selling products or services it is important to be available online. There are several options to build a webshop, both for beginners and more advanced users. In this article we will look at all the steps necessary to open a webshop.

  • Acquire domains and usernames
  • Create landingpage
  • SEO
  • Choose platform

Acquire domains and usernames

The first action you should take is to acquire the domains you wish to use for the webshop. Depending on where your target market is you might need .no, .com, .se and .dk to mention some. If the webshop has a name with special letters you should acquire all the different types to make sure the customers find you.

In addition to registering the name with Brønnøysund and a domain provider you should acquire the name on social media. The sale will take place on your website but most of the marketing will be through social media.

webshop

The decision on whether or not you should use other social media such as Instagram, Pinterest and SnapChat will be dependent on your target audience. Are they using these social media platforms? If you have plans to post videos showcasing your products, you should register for a YouTube account aswell.
It is important to create these accounts as fast as possible to make sure you get the username you want.

Don’t go overboard. If you know you will not be able to maintain many different accounts you should just use Facebook. It is more important the profile is updated frequently and respond quickly than having as many social media profiles as possible.

Create a landing page

When you have acquired the domain(s) you should post content on the website. Start to build your brand while allowing search bots such as Google start crawling your site. While you build your web shop you should create a landing page. This page will give visitors the option to sign up for future newsletters. By doing this you will start attracting possible customers before you even launch.

All web hosting (and domain parking) at PRO ISP has the option to create a free 1-page website where you can create a landing page. In the example below, we have created a simple landing page where visitors can leave their email. It took about 5 minutes to set up this.

 

 

Make the webshop visible for Google

To make the webshop visible for Google you should optimize both the website and the webshop. Doing so is called “SEO – search engine optimization”. You should make sure search engines easily can find your website and connect possible customers with it.

Do a search for businesses like your own and see which words stand out. Use these when optimizing. Read more about SEO: “SEO – what do I need it for?”

Selecting platform

There are many different platforms to use when building a webshop. Whether you are brand new in the IT-business or have been working with websites for years. We will look at some of the most popular platforms available and which type of users they will work best for. All of the platforms mentioned can be used on our web hosting and most of them can be installed easily with just a few clicks.

  • WEBSITE BUILDER

    If you are a beginner when it comes to websites we recommend using the website builder from PRO ISP. Within the website builder, there are two options for webshop, one is easy and simple, the other one more advanced which is connected to “Ecwid”.

    In the simple module you will be able to administrate categories, products and shipping. The module also gives you the options to use PayPal for payment. This module makes it possible to go live with your webshop within a few hours.

    The more advanced option is connected to Ecwid and allows for your webshop to receive orders within minutes. Design and setup is done via the website builder while the administration of products and orders are done via Ecwids website. You can connect your Facebook page with Ecwid to make your webshop available from Facebook as well. Please be aware: The free version of Ecwid only includes 10 products, if you need more extra costs will be added (more information).

    The website builder contains everything you need for a webshop. No experience needed and maintenance is not an issue as we handle the security of the platform. You can try the website builder for FREE 30 days.

    See our example of a webshop (in norwegian): https://dinbutikk.shop/

 

  • WooCommerce

    WooCommerce is a powerful webshop platform available as a plugin for WordPress. 28% of all webshops around the world use WooCommerce. With the platform you can charge by PayPal, invoice, register added value and multiple shipping options. WooCommerce can also be extended from the WordPress library for plugins. The platform is perfect for both beginners and more advanced users. Read more about WooCommerce: “WooCommerce – build a webshop easy as 1-2-3“.

    webshop woocommerce

  • Magento

    Magento has been on the market for several years and is recommended for larger companies with developers and experience. With a few clicks Magento can be installed on web hosting with PRO ISP via cPanel. Med Magento you will have access to a large selection of different functions. Any requirement you have will most likely be supported within the installation. It has a great report function and the interface is ok, but will take some time to get to know. What you would need to install as an extension in other platforms is already included within Magento. You will be able to create newsletters, have a full overview of all sales and visitors as well as the possibility to set up added value and shipping options. The webshop is designed for selling products, but can also be used for the sale of services.

    Magento requires more resources in general, so you should select a more powerful web hosting then with the other platforms. At PRO ISP we have dedicated Enterprise web hosting especially for Magento with LiteMage for extreme performance.

    webshop magento

  • Prestashop

    Prestashop was started in 2005 and is one of the worlds most popular platforms for webshops. Over 250 000 websites use Prestashop which can be installed directly from cPanel with a few clicks. The platform works both for small and larger companies. With over 300 extensions included you will have everything you need to open a webshop. You might need to purchase a theme since the one included is really simple and boring.

    webshop prestashop

 

Summary

We recommend you test the different platforms to see what works best for you. Depending on what needs you have the price will vary.

In WooCommerce you will have most of the extensions needed included (such as Stripe for payment), but most of these also have premium versions. With PrestaShop and Magento costs can increase quickly to get the extensions you need. Magento requires more resources so you will need a more powerful web hosting than with the other platforms. We recommend Enterprise web hosting with LiteMage for extreme performance.

Consider how many sales and products you will have and test different platforms to find the best solution for your needs.

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Customer survey 2017 – See the results!
Written by: Isabelle

650 customers have participated in our customer survey for 2017 – thank you for your participation! The results of the survey are important information for PRO ISP when it comes to development and improvement. What works and what does not is up to our customers.

 

“Why did you choose PRO ISP?”

Knowing why our customers choose us, gives us information on how we stand out and differ from other competitors. We asked “Why did you choose PRO ISP?” and evaluated which words were most used. The word cloud is a visual presentation of the words most used by the 650 responses.

“How do you prefer to receive information?”

PRO ISP has several options on how to send information to our customers. What is important to us is that we use the options preferred by our customers and the options that ensures we reach as many as possible.

The graph below tells us our customers prefers to receive information from us via email, when it comes to both news and system service announcements. This is the same results we had for our customer survey in 2016.

 

“How do you prefer to contact us?”

Our customers can contact us several ways. By learning more how our customers prefer to contact us, we can improve these options and make them even more available. As shown below email and live chat is the preferred ways while phone and Facebook are less preferred. We had the same results from last year’s survey as well.

customer survey 2017

Is our customers satisfied with us?

Most important for us working for PRO ISP is that our customers are satisfied with us and the products we deliver. The customer survey contains a series of questions regarding how satisfied the customer is with us and our services.

customer survey 2017

Click the image for a larger version.

 

How would you review PRO ISP?

In addition to the customer survey you can review us anytime on Trustpilot. Here you can also see what other customers have to say about us and how they have reviewed us.

customer survey 2017

 

Summary

Knowing if our customers are satisfied is important to us here at PRO ISP. The summary of the customer survey tells us our customers are happy with both our products and our services.

Our focus forward will be as before; developing our products, optimizing communication between us and our customers and of course keep delivering high quality products and services.

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SSL certificate – how to choose the right one?
Written by: Jon Eivind Malde

The demand for SSL certificates have been increasing rapidly the last couple of years. The reason for this is most likely because security have become more important as there are continuously new cases of hacking and cyber-attacks. Google and the web browser community have also contributed to the increasing demand. Not having an SSL certificate will cause a warning to appear for the user in the web browser. Here at PRO ISP we receive daily inquiries regarding SSL and the most common questions are:

 

What is an SSL certificate?

SSL certificates are used to create a secure connection so that the information being sent cannot be monitored or altered by anyone. In other words, it ensures safe communication. On a website with SSL certificate, the URL will contain an S so it will say https:// instead of just http://.ssl certificate secure not

SSL certificates are not only used for web servers, but for any type of service where secure communication is required (email, FTP for example). However, it’s mostly on websites that you will notice the use of SSL due to the visible indicators to increase end user trust and confidence in the browser. We will elaborate more about this later.

SSL certificates also have another function. The certificates are issued by certificate authorities (CAs). These issuers have a set of rules to follow for when a certificate can be issued – in the same way as there are rules for issuing passports or driver’s license.

There are currently 3 levels of validation for SSL certificates and each level have higher requirements than the previous level. The requirements verify control and ownership of the domain. Each level is meant to provide increased trust for the client that you are who you say you are. As each level require more information to be verified the price is usually higher for each level.

The levels are:
1. Domain validation (DV)
2. Organization validation (OV)
3. Extended validation (EV)

1. Domain validation (DV)

The easiest certificate to get issued is domain validated certificate. This certificate only verifies that you control the domain, which can be done via email, DNS and file. This part is done automatically for all our clients who order certificates for web hosting at PRO ISP. All our web hosting includes a free Basic SSL certificate which is a domain validated certificate. This only takes a few second to issue.

This is how a DV certificate will look in a web browser:

ssl certificate google
The difference between a free Basic SSL certificate and a paid DV certificate:

  • Site seal is not included for the free certificate, but is included in all the other certificates. You can however add a site seal to your free Basic SSL, which is cheaper than purchasing a SSL certificate. If you are wondering how a site seal looks on a website, look on the bottom at proisp.eu. Clicking the site seal will provide more information about the website and what is verified. Site seal is used to show visitors the owner of the website has secured the website and show what has been verified by a third party. This increases the chances for the first-time visitors to more quickly establish enough trust to the website so they may contact you or make a purchase. The site seal included with certificates typically contain more information the higher level they are, as well as being more expensive. The site seal for proisp.eu is one of the ones with most verified information as well as issued from the worlds most recognized brand when it comes to security online.

ssl certificate norton site seal

  • Paid certificates have a warranty covered by the issuer if the certificates have been issued to someone performing fraud and issuer should have known about. Visitors of the website is covered by this warranty. The warranty is another way to ensure the visitor to have trust in the website.
  • About 5% of our clients are denied Basic SSL by the certificate issuer due to information on the domain, domain name or contact information seeming suspicious. In these cases, a manual review is required by the issuer and you will need to purchase a SSL certificate instead.

2. Organization validation (OV)

Organization validated certificates must in addition to domain validation also validate the information regarding the organization/company. Private parties can therefore not purchase these. Required documentation is that the organization:

  • Exists
  • Own/operate the domain
  • Operates from the correct address
  • Can be contacted through public available contact information

In a web browser the URL will look the same for OV as DV certificate, but the visitor can check which organization and address the certificate has been issued to, as shown below.

ssl certificate details

The site seal for OV certificates contains more information (company name), the warranties are higher and there are some available extra functions such as malware and PCI scanning. As there is more to verify for OV it usually takes the issuer around 1-2 days from order to the certificate is issued. This is also reflected on the price.

3. Extended validation (EV)

EV SSL certificate requires the highest level of validation before being issued. Basically, most of the same information as OV certificates but the difference is there are fewer approved sources as well as the validation process is more thorough and more documentation is required. Compared to OV certificate there is overall more to validate on each check point. The most visible difference is seen in the web browser. This is how our URL is seen in the web browser:

 

 

You can clearly see who is the owner of the website as the company name is shown next to the URL.

Since there is more to validate for the certificate issuer it usually takes 2-7 days to issue EV SSL certificates. These certificates are normally the most expensive.

What do I need SSL certificate for?

  • Safe communication
    In today’s society with increased focus on protection of privacy and security, secure communication is essential to maintain both.
  • Higher ranking in search engines
    Search engines have added SSL as a part of their algorithm ranking and it is estimated websites with SSL have about 5% better results than websites without.
  • Faster loading websites
    Web browsers have chosen to support the new HTTP/2 protocol when using SSL/TLS only. HTTP/2 can reduce the loading time with 20-30%. All our web hosting supports HTTP/2, but only when you have an SSL certificate your website will use HTTP/2 instead of the older HTTP/1.1 protocol.
  • Avoid warnings in the web browser
    Web browsers shows a warning that the website is not secure when inserting data into a form and the website is not using SSL. In the future a warning will be shown for all websites not using SSL.
  • Increase conversions
    A conversion is a visitor performing a desired action on your website. This could be a purchase, registration or anything else. All paid SSL certificates contain many benefits to increase conversions, such as site seal, warranty, malware scan and increased visibility in search engines. These benefits will help increase the trust for your website while showing your customers you are serious about security.
  • Company name visible in web browser
    EV SSL certificate clearly shows the owner of the website and that it has been validated from a secure third party. A message to show you have been through the most thorough check and give you the highest level of trust with your customers.

Which SSL certificate should I choose?

Which SSL certificate is the right one for you will depend on what kind of website you have and how it is used. Some have several domains and websites with different needs and therefore may need many different certificates.

Generally, we recommend you consider who your visitors are and what you want them to do. These questions should be answered:

  • To what extent does users notice if the website is secure?
  • How much will it mean for the visitors to see the website is secure?
  • Will indicators showing that the website is secure, or to show who you say you are, increase trust for your website and its visitors?
  • Will increased trust to your website increase the likelihood of visitors doing as you want them to?

If the visitors will not notice it the website is secure, and it will not increase the likelihood of visitors doing as you want them to, you do not need more than our free SSL certificate or Start SSL (RapidSSL). Even though it may not matter much, it would not be negative to add a site seal included in the certificate on your website.

Some of the recommendations below are for wildcard (plus) and multi-domain certificates. These are explained in further details in “SSL certificates that cover more than one address”.

SSL recommendations for:

Simple personal website

Typically, simple blogs with personal information or simple websites with few pages. To avoid warnings in the future that the website is not secure it is a minimum requirement to use SSL. Since there is no need for increased trust there is no need to pay for a certificate unless the free Basic SSL could not be issued.

Recommendation:

Simple website for a company

A small website with information about the company and a contact form could have different need for SSL. Depending on what type of clients (IT and security related versus non IT related such as carpenters for example) we have different recommendations.

Recommendations for not IT related clients:

Recommendations for IT, security, web shop or similar related clients:

Larger website for a company

A larger website with information about the company and a blog, web shop or more.

Recommendations:

Several websites for a company on several domains

Here the same recommendations as mentioned above applies. You should consider each website separately as mentioned above.

It’s it usually best to order a certificate for each website, but if you have a good overview of the domains it may be best to consider Premium SSL multi-domain. If you do not need to increase trust we recommend Comodo Positive multi-domain SSL.

If you want a certificate for alias domains on the same web hosting you will need to use a multi-domain certificate for these. This also applies to other sub domains and domains pointing to the same folder on the web server. Read more about SSL certificates that covers more than one address.

SSL certificate not to be used for website

SSL certificate not to be used for websites are often used for email services. They are also used for other services such as FTP, APIs/apps and other services that require SSL. They have in common that they only need the security SSL provides. It is therefore no need for a higher-level certificate than DV certificate.

Since you can only use basic SSL with our web hosting, you will in most cases need a DV certificate (such as Start SSL) which covers one domain.

  • If you have several sub domains on the same domain you wish to use for such services, we recommend you use Start SSL Plus.
  • If you are securing several addresses for several domains, we recommend Comodo Positive multi-domain SSL.5

 

Contact us for further questions

Hopefully this information will help you find the right SSL certificate for your need. If you are still unsure which one to choose, it is more important that you are using SSL – then which one it is.

Do not hesitate to send us feedback or questions. Should you have any questions please contact us.

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Website builder – Create professional websites easy!
Written by: Isabelle

The Website builder makes it possible to create professional websites simple and easy. By using responsive design your website will look just as good on both mobile, tablet and desktop. Choose from over 400 different design templates to customize the website as you like.

 

website builder

 

Is the Website builder for me?

Yes, the Website Builder is a great tool for anyone who is creating a website. You will select the design, insert your content (pictures, and text) and in a matter of short time, you will be ready to publish your website.

In addition to the 400 different design templates you can choose from, there is also a large selection of widgets you can use. You can add a photo gallery, calendar or contact form just to mention a few.

How do I get started?

Depending on your needs you can select either Website Lite or Website Pro for the website builder. Both versions will give you access to all the design templates while the number of widgets is limited in the Lite version versus unlimited in the Pro one.

After ordering (how to order) Website Lite or Website Pro you will be able to open the Website builder from the client portal on proisp.eu. You will then be directed to your new website and can start creating it!

You will start by selecting a design/template of your own choice. There is over 400 different designs so you will absolutely find something that would fit what you are looking for. They are also sorted in different categories so you easier can find the one for you or your business.

When you have decided which design you want you will have the option of changing the colors and fonts for the design. When you are happy with the design you may start adding content. You can add your own pictures or select from the different stock images included in the Website builder. When you are finished with the editor, your website is ready to be published.

Our guide “How to use the Website Builder” will take you through the process step by step.

BILDE MED SKJERMDUMP AV STEG 1-2-3

Recommended widgets

If you are using Website Lite you can add a limited number of widgets while the Website Pro users have unlimited number of widgets available to add. There are several widgets to choose from, below are some examples:

Facebook Page
If you have a Facebook page to connect to your website use the widget called “Facebook page”. This can make sure your website visitors also becomes Facebook followers.

Social share
Do you want your website visitors to share content from your website? Make it easy for them to do so by using the “Social share” widget.

Search
Give your visitors the option of searching your website. “Search” is recommended for websites with a large amount of content and especially for websites with articles or blog posts.

Google calendar
Show upcoming events, seminars or other happenings to your visitors with Google calendar. You will need an existing Google calendar to use this widget.

SCREENSHOT OF WEBSITE WITH WIDGETS

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iOS Push Notifications
Written by: Morten Malde

Our servers have been upgraded to cPanel version 64. Within this upgrade there are several new functions available (read about them in this article). Another new function available is iOS push notifications for email on devices from Apple. This has been tested and can be found on all our cPanel servers at PRO ISP.

iOS Push Notifications

This technology will improve the battery time for your iOS device and receive email quicker.

To start using push notifications you need to exit and close the email application or do a restart of the device. Follow this guide to see how to exit and close the application on your iPhone, iPad or iPod. Afterwards push for email against our servers will work immediately and the unit will vibrate when a new email is received.

This technology is only available if email is set up using IMAP. If you are using POP3 this will not work. This is also only available for Apple’s email application.

Receive notifications

New emails will not automatically show on the screen when the unit is locked. You can adjust the settings to receive warnings when specific people send you email. Follow these steps:

1. Open Mail application.
2. Choose “Mailboxes” on the top left corner.
3. Choose “I” symbol to the right of the VIP menu.
4. In the VIP list choose “Add VIP”.
5. Choose which of your contacts to be shown on the locked screen when you receive email from them.

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cPanel version 64
Written by: Morten Malde

During the next few weeks cPanel will be updated to cPanel version 64 on all of our servers. These updates are done a few times each year after they are tested and available. Since updates contains several different things we have written about the most important ones for our customers.

cpanel version 64

Fast Email Searching (IMAP Full Text Search)

This technology (Solr) will be activated on all our servers and will work for everyone using email with IMAP at PRO ISP. The technology works on all iOS units, Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird and all the webmail clients we have available.

How does it work?
When searching for an email with text or other the server will index the entire email account. The first time the search will be somewhat slow, but all future searches will be much faster compared to before as the account was indexed earlier.

This technology will require more resources from the server (CPU and disk space). This will not affect the disk space for our clients, but directly on the server.

Tidy Mailboxes

A new icon will be available in the control panel to give an overview of the number of emails and disk space for the different email accounts. It will also be possible to tidy up the email accounts using these options:
– Remove all emails older than 1 year in a folder
– Remove all emails in a folder over 30MB
– Remove all emails in a folder

Look for the icon “Email Disk Usage” under the category “Email”.

Optimizing

Improvements will be made on a server level for the email servers as well. Mainly sending/receiving email will be faster as well as reducing the battery usage of iOS units.

New styles (white/black)

Several of our customers have changed to Paper Lantern theme in the control panel. Now white and black is available for anyone wanting to use this.

cPanel version 64

Software

The most important and highly requested updated this time is phpMyAdmin which will be updated from version 4.0.10 to 4.6.6. The current version (4.0.10) was released in 2013 and the new in 2017. In the future new versions will be released more often.

SSL proxy subdomains

It will now be possible to use your own SSL on proxy subdomains (for example webmail.yourdomain.net/cpanel.yourdomain.net). If you have a wildcard SSL certificate you can install this on the subdomains in cPanel.

DMARC

Within the zone editor it is now possible to add DMARC records within the interface instead of manually.

cpanel version 64

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WHD -World Hosting Days 2017
Written by: Morten Malde

From 27.-31. of march PRO ISP attended World Hosting Days (WHD) in Rust, Germany.

What is World Hosting Days (WHD)?

The fair is held at Europa-Park, Europes largest amusement park. Every year WHD grows in number of participants, seminars and companies attending. This years over 6500 people attended WHD and over 120 seminars was held. As many as 2500 companies from 84 different nations attended.

whd

Our providers

Most of the time PRO ISP spend at WHD is spent on meeting our providers and their contacts. We discuss current solutions and products as well as the future and what challenges lies ahead. This gives us information of future plans for our providers services and products.

whd whdwhd

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SSL certificates that covers more than one address
Written by: Jon Eivind Malde

Wildcard certificate

If you have web hosting with PRO ISP it is not only the website you should consider making secure when it comes to SSL. You are most likely using email and other services you are not aware of should use SSL. This is especially important if there are many users of these services. Wildcard SSL certificates will the best choice in this case. The following addresses are useful to secure with SSL on our web hosting (in addition to the website itself):

  • webmail.exampledomain.org
    You can connect to http://webmail.exampledomain.org without any problem unsecured, but we recommend you always use https instead with the alternate address you have been given (which is a bit more difficult to remember). The benefit of SSL on webmail.exampledomain.org is that you can use this address with https and it is easier to remember for all the email users on the domain.
  • mail.exampledomain.org
    This address is used typically in email clients as host name when setting up email addresses. If you do not have a certificate on this address users will receive a warning regarding the SSL certificate not being the same as the address. The warning will not appear if you have installed a valid SSL certificate and you will avoid any confusion for the email users. Be however aware you may just as well use exampledomain.org as host name in the email client. The reason why many still use mail.exampledomain.org is probably because the address traditionally has been used for this.
  • cpanel.exampledomain.org
    This is the address you can log into cPanel with. If you do not have a certificate on this address we recommend you always use https instead for the alternative address you have been given. The benefit of SSL on cpanel.exampledomain.org is that you can use the address with https and it is easy to remember.
  • ftp.exampledomain.org
    Many people use this address for FTP (up-/downloading of files) service. Several FTP clients are now using SSL/TLS automatically and these will show a warning for the error on the certificate unless you are using your own certificate.For many of the addresses above it is not possible to install a certificate for each address. There is however a type of SSL certificate that covers most of the addresses above and that cPanel sets up to secure all the addresses with: Wildcard SSL certificate.This certificate will secure all sub domains of the domain the certificate is issued for and will in the example above be *.exampledomain.org. You will in other words be able to use it for all the addresses above, as well as other sub domains you create, for example webshop.exampledomain.org.

 

When should you consider using Wildcard SSL certificate?

We would recommend this in two cases:

  • If you have several sub domains you wish to secure, as it will be easier to operate fewer certificates, and cheaper then several certificates.
  • If you have several users for webmail, email clients, cPanel or FTP as you will not have confusing errors and you can use easier addresses to reach the services.
    Be aware there are not any Wildcard certificates for EV certificates.

Multi-domain SSL certificate

As the name indicates, multi-domain certificates can secure several addresses. Typically, it will secure a total of 3 or more addresses with the option to purchase more. The benefit of this certificate versus the wildcard certificate is that you can purchase several domains and sub domains on the same certificate. For example, you can secure the following in one certificate:

  • exampledomain.org
  • abc.proisp.no
  • proisp.eu

You can normally secure up to 100 different wildcard addresses in one certificate (even more in some cases).

When should you consider using multi-domain SSL certificate?

We would recommend this in the following cases:

The same recommendations for wildcard if there are a few sub domains to be secured.
cPanel prevents the installation of more than one certificate on domains and sub domains pointing to the same folder on the webserver. Typically, our clients have this problem when using alias domains where they would use mycompanyname.no, mycompanyname.com, mycompanyname.se all pointing to the same holder. You will then need to use a multi-domain certificate to secure these domains – if not it is only possible to secure one of them.

When you want to secure several (sub)domains with an EV certificate:
If you are in full control and have a clear overview of your domains this certificate would be practical. In many cases we however see there are issues with issuing, reissuing and renewal if you have many domains on one certificate. The reason could be errors in the information registered on one domain, a configuration that has been altered or other issues that causes delays.

Due to this we recommend you avoid use of a multi-domain certificate unless you:

  • Have full control and a good overview of the domains.
  • Do not have any problems with several addresses pointing to the same folder on the web server.
  • You don’t have many sub-domains
  • There are wildcard multi-domain SSL certificates as well!

 

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