EDIT: It appears the certificate has not yet been deployed. This should happen early next week.

Intel9.us Now Has an SSL Certificate. This means that individuals who directly access the website will no longer see the alarming browser message, “This website may damage your computer…” highlighted in red.

When I began Intel9.us eleven years ago, lack of an SSL certificate was not an issue. In my opinion, it should not be an issue for a website that  conducts no e-commerce, and does not request information from users. In some locales,  the user could be vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks, by substitution of  web pages generated by a third party. But in this case, you have other problems.

Nevertheless, the dire warning message generated by modern browsers, without any knowledge of what the website actually is or who runs it, required this remedy. Ironically, the SSL certificate doesn’t provide any additional security to Intel9; it just disposes of the message.

SSL encrypts the link between a user’s computer and the website, with “https” appearing in the browser address bar, sometimes after an extra click. This does not make the website itself inherently more secure.  Readers with government, media, or corporate  affiliations should continue to access Intel9 by means appropriate to their security requirements.

For the individual unaffiliated internet user, the risks are minimal.  Welcome aboard!