Secure Socket Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) is a critical component of modern Internet security, but it’s not always as easy to deploy as it should or could be. That’s where the Let’s Encrypt effort is aiming to help—to make it easier to encrypt, by providing users with freely available SSL/TLS certificates, backed by a certificate authority (CA).
Let’s Encrypt was first announced in November 2014. The effort includes the participation of Mozilla, Cisco, Akamai, Electronic Frontier Foundation, IdenTrust and researchers at the University of Michigan, joined with the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG).