Let's Encrypt
Let's Encrypt is a nonprofit Certificate Authority that provides free, automated, and open TLS certificates to over 363 million websites, supported by the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG).
Overview of Let's Encrypt
Let's Encrypt is a nonprofit Certificate Authority that provides free, automated, and open TLS certificates to 363 million websites. It is headquartered at 548 Market St, PMB 77519, San Francisco, CA 94104-5401, USA, with mail inquiries directed to PO Box 18666, Minneapolis, MN 55418-0666, USA. The service is brought to you by the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG) and aims to create a more secure and privacy-respecting Web.
TLS Certificates and Automation
Let's Encrypt offers TLS certificates that are free, automated, and open. These certificates are valid for 90 days and include wildcard certificates. The service uses ACME (Automated Certificate Management Environment) clients for certificate management and provides an ACME Renewal Info (ARI) guide for easy certificate revocation and replacement. Let's Encrypt does not issue Organization Validation (OV) or Extended Validation (EV) certificates.
Security Practices and Innovations
Let's Encrypt supports IPv6 and uses Certificate Transparency (CT) logs to enhance security. The organization plans to start using new RSA & ECDSA intermediates for signing certificates from June 6th, 2024, to improve security, efficiency, and agility. They also frequently rotate intermediates and recommend not pinning or hardcoding intermediates. Let's Encrypt has received support from the Open Technology Fund to increase defense against BGP attacks. Additionally, they use a single intermediate for ECDSA end-entity certificates to enhance efficiency.
Community and Support
Let's Encrypt offers detailed documentation for users and developers, a blog with updates on partnerships and new features, and a community support forum for user assistance. The organization also provides a list of hosting providers that support Let's Encrypt and maintains a GitHub repository for their code and projects. Additionally, they offer a staging environment for testing ACME clients and provide statistics on service status and certificate issuance.
Partnerships and Collaborations
Let's Encrypt has a partnership with Princeton University to bolster internet security and has received the Levchin Prize for Real-World Cryptography. They encourage donations and sponsorships to support their mission and have a legal transparency report published biannually. Furthermore, the organization has received backing from various initiatives like the Open Technology Fund and collaborates on projects to enhance cybersecurity.