A significant development in online security has arrived, making it easier to secure connections that don’t rely on a traditional domain name. A prominent provider of free certificates has announced the availability of SSL/TLS certificates specifically for IP addresses.
Historically, obtaining a trusted certificate to enable HTTPS or other secure protocols required ownership and validation of a domain name. This new offering changes that paradigm, allowing services accessed directly via their numerical IP address to be secured with robust encryption, just like domain-based services.
This expansion is particularly valuable for situations where a domain name isn’t used or necessary, such as securing internal network resources, certain connected devices, or temporary setups. By providing free certificates that validate based on the IP address, this initiative removes a major barrier to implementing security and encryption in a wider range of contexts.
Enabling HTTPS and other secure connections directly on an IP address helps protect data from eavesdropping and tampering, enhancing overall security for users connecting to these services. It’s a bold step towards ensuring that strong security practices are accessible and easy to deploy for a broader spectrum of online services and connections. This move reinforces the push for universal encryption across the internet.
Source: https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2025/07/03/lets_encrypt_rolls_out_free/
