Wordpress now comes encrypted for all customers as part of new security upgrade

Wordpress has added HTTPS encryption support for all blogs for free. Those with a custom Wordpress domain or a blog under the wordpress.com domain name will now have their data encrypted as part of a new security upgrade.

HTTPS support is not new and Wordpress is actually a little late in stepping into the game. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have already added HTTPS support for their users and Google even favours websites that come with this additional encryption support. This means that, thanks to the security upgrade, your Wordpress blog is now more likely to be ranked higher by Google search.

The move is towards ensuring user data remains secure from attacks by malicious hackers. Since Wordpress powers millions of popular websites via its platform, providing enhanced security against malware attacks is vitally important in retaining customer loyalty as ensuring their user growth.

Wordpress rolled out HTTPS support for websites using wordpress.com subdomains in 2014. However, the expansion to custom domains took longer, given that custom domain names require individual SSL certificates, which can put an economic strain on a company. However, now, all Wordpress bloggers will receive their own SSL certificates free of cost.

"We launched the first batch of certificates in January 2016 and immediately started working with Let's Encrypt to make the process smoother for our massive and growing list of domains. For you, the users, that means that you'll see secure encryption automatically deployed on every new site within minutes. We are closing the door to un-encrypted web traffic (HTTP) at every opportunity," Wordpress said.

The HTTPS security upgrade will be automatically activated to all users. Once activated, users notice a green lock icon appearing in their browser's address bar, indicating that encryption support has now been added to their blog.