Imagine how much business you'll lose when clients see the Not Secure warning in red on your website. That's what will happen in October when Google labels all HTTP web pages as 'Not secure' in Chrome, the most popular web browser on the Internet.

The Not Secure warning will appear on web pages that have forms, login fields, and credit card input sections. The warning means that data is being exchanged on an unencrypted connection -- and that your information can be stolen. Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is the secure version of HTTP, the protocol that sends your data between your browser and the website that you are connected to. The "S" at the end of HTTPS stands for "Secure." It means all communications between your browser and the website are encrypted.

Now, while you have time, you should migrate your website to HTTPS and get the necessary SSL/TLS certificates. 

Severely impair your website

"This means that if your website does not have a security certificate, your clients and potential clients who visit your site will be warned that your site is not secure. This will deter your potential clients from submitting forms from your website and may cause some to exit your website. It may severely impair the ability of your website to make a good first impression. And there's strong evidence to suggest that, if not remedied, it will hurt your firm's business," says Dan Jaffe, CEO of LawLytics Legal Marketing Suite.

A Google audit found that 79 of the web's top 100 non-Google sites don't deploy HTTPS by default, while 67 of those use either outdated encryption technology or offer none at all. "That's a big number, especially considering that these 100 sites combined comprise about 25 percent of all website traffic worldwide. It turns out that we've got a very vulnerable web," says a Wired article.

You can tell if your law firm's website is secure by looking at the address bar in your web browser while you are visiting your site.

If the address you see starts with “https://” then it is secure. You may also see a green padlock, and/or the word “Secure” depending on which web browser you are using. If you don't see one of these things, your site is probably not secure and will need upgrading.

"If you're already a LawLytics member, we have you covered, and will have your site upgraded in time," Jaffe says. "If you're not a LawLytics member yet, we can help you migrate your firm's website over to LawLytics so that you can benefit from our SSL security offerings, which will be standard on all LawLytics accounts."

Be safe, and schedule a call to LawLytics today.