The proper management of SSL certificates remains a significant concern for hosting companies. Problems such as expired certificates, misconfigured HTTPS settings, and inconsistent HTTPS pose risks. This impacts websites and undermines user confidence.
Modern SSL/TLS best practices now provide straightforward means to address these issues. Hosting service providers must offer automatic renewals and standardized validation mechanisms. This instills confidence among users and businesses.
This article breaks down the key SSL regulations that all hosting companies must comply with. So, let’s get started.
Establish a Strong SSL/TLS Baseline for All Hosted Websites
Enforce HTTPS by Default
The use of HTTPS is no longer an optional feature; every hosting company must use SSL/TLS certificate on the day a new domain is set up.
Three immediate benefits of default HTTPS are:
- Greater Trust: The current users have been informed through their browsers whenever they access a site that does not support HTTPS.
- High SEO Ratings: All the leading search engines prioritize websites that are set with HTTPS in their search results, hence offering customers better visibility.
- Get rid of Configuration Problems: No user will forget or wrongly configure HTTPS as long as all the hosting providers have it activated during the configuration process.
Provide Modern TLS Configuration as a Default Setting
In addition to providing SSL/TLS solely, hosting providers must configure their servers and the user’s site to the latest security standards. Hosting providers’ servers must support only TLS 1.2 and 1.3.
Servers should support modern and strong cipher suites that include forward secrecy enabled via ECDHE. Hosts should disable obsolete and insecure protocol versions and weak ciphers.
- Implement Automated, Error-Free Certificate Lifecycle Management
Use ACME-Based Automation for Issuance & Renewal
The expiration of certificates is one of the most prevalent reasons that cause the failure of the SSL. With ACME SSL Certificate, this is completely avoidable. ACME capable servers or control panels can automatically request, validate, install, and renew certificates.
With ACME protocol in certificate systems, you can:
- Auto-generate private keys and CSRs.
- Validate domain ownership
- Install and issue the ACME certificates.
- Use scheduled background renewals before expiry.
This becomes particularly essential when in a shared and reseller hosting setup, where the certificates will have to be operated at scale.
Centralize Certificate Inventory & Monitoring
The visibility is not disposed of by automation. The hosting providers are expected to have a centralized dashboard that shows clear insight into:
- All the active certificates and their expiry dates.
- Certificate chains and validation status
- Renewal success and failure events
- Revocations and anomalies
This centralized inventory gives the administrators the capability of detecting a problem before it can impact the customers in a very short time. Alerts are used to warn the teams of a certificate that is about to expire, one that has not been renewed, or is incorrectly configured.
Strengthen Identity Assurance & Validation Controls
Support Multiple Validation Levels (DV, OV, EV)
Choose a hosting providers that support and explains the different types of certificates available:
- Domain Validation (DV): This is the quickest, and it is applicable in blogs, portfolios, small business sites.
- Organization Validation (OV): Checks the information of the company and is suitable in professional and business sites.
- Extended validation (EV): The most stringent type of verification, which is suitable in the case of financial institutions, e-commerce sites, and government institutions.
Protect Private Keys with Strict Access Controls
Even with the most secure certificate, a compromised private key defeats the purpose of encryption. Hosting providers should implement strict controls around key storage and access:
- Store keys in secure vaults or HSMs where possible
- Limit access based on role and function
- Log all access and changes to private keys
Enforce Modern Security Enhancements Across All Hosted Environments
Enable HSTS for Eligible Domains
The HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) protocol adds such a feature that browsers make requests only to a domain via HTTPS. This protects against downgrade and man-in-the-middle attacks to the user.
Apply OCSP Stapling & Must-Staple Where Supported
OCSP stapling improves performance and security by displaying revocation information in the handshake, reducing the number of OCSP queries, and, in addition to that, loading pages quickly. In other security measures, Must-Staple will use the security of stapled responses where the client compatibility will permit, in the interest of all tenants that are hosted.
Ensure Strong Certificate Signing Algorithms
SHA-1 is no longer seen as a secure hash algorithm to use in the signing of certificates. The hosting companies must use algorithmic numbers of SHA-256 or better and deny any form of uploading obsolete certificates.
Maintain Robust SSL/TLS Security Through Continuous Monitoring
Regularly Scan for Misconfigurations
Things change over time, systems are updated, customers install software, and configurations drift. Hosting providers should run scheduled scans to identify:
- Disabled or missing security headers
- Weak cipher suites or outdated protocols
- Broken certificate chains
- Expired or mismatched certificates
Automated scanning helps identify vulnerabilities early and enables remediation before users are victimized.
Identify and Act on Certificate Misuse
Detection of a suspicious certificate activity, i.e., unexpected issuance or unauthorized domain validation, should also be monitored. In case the certificates must be revoked on the spot and internal investigations must be initiated to find the cause.
Train the Customers With the explicit SSL/TLS advice
Provide Easy Documentation & Setup Wizards
The major part of shared hosting users are not experts in security. The hosting companies are expected to offer clear documentation, simplified guides, and setup wizards that describe:
- What SSL/TLS is
- Why HTTPS matters
- How SSL automation works
- How Acme certificates are issued and renewed
This empowers users to understand their environment while reducing pressure on support teams.
Communicate Renewal, Expiry, and Security Alerts
Proactive communication is essential, even with automation in place. Customers should receive alerts for renewal failures, domain validation issues, or configuration risks. These notifications reduce downtime and increase customer trust in the provider’s reliability.
Conclusion
For modern hosting providers, the usage of SSL/TLS is no longer an additional technical feature; it is a fundamental task. A secure hosting platform is based on strong default settings, intelligent automation, and continuous notification.
With the ongoing changes in the standards of security and the shrinking of the certificate lifespan, SSL certificate management automation is crucial. Keeping the configurations current and implementing scalable best practices will win trust and market competition.