Let's Encrypt

Speaker: Seth Schoen

Abstract

The Let's Encrypt certificate authority was launched in 2015 by Mozilla, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the University of Michigan, with support from a wide range of industry partners. A not-for-profit certificate authority trusted by the major browsers, it issues digital certificates in a fully-automated manner and at no charge to users.

Let's Encrypt aims to make the use of TLS security easy, automatic, and routine for all Internet services. We've already issued almost a million certificates for several million Internet names, making us one of the largest CAs after only a few months in operation.

We're actively seeking integration with more server tools and hosting platforms, and our open protocol is now supported by over a dozen clients. I'll explain how the technology works, demonstrate how easy it can be to use Let's Encrypt to secure an Internet service, and explain how you can help increase our integration and adoption.

Biography

Seth Schoen has over 10 years of experience at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) helping technologists connect their work to civil liberties and legal initiatives.

He has been actively involved in digital copyright law and encryption since the 1990s, and has testified before the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the U.S. Copyright Office, and a variety of courts.

He has done research in computer, network, and document forensics and worked on EFF tech projects including HTTPS Everywhere and the Let's Encrypt certificate authority.