SSL Security Checker

Understanding SSL & Security Headers

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and its successor TLS (Transport Layer Security) encrypt the connection between a user's browser and a web server. When a site uses HTTPS, data like passwords and credit card numbers travel through an encrypted tunnel, preventing eavesdropping and tampering.

Why Security Headers Matter

HSTS (Strict-Transport-Security) tells browsers to always use HTTPS, preventing downgrade attacks. Content-Security-Policy controls which resources can load, blocking XSS attacks. X-Frame-Options prevents clickjacking by blocking your site from being embedded in iframes. X-Content-Type-Options stops MIME-type sniffing. Referrer-Policy controls how much referrer info is sent. Permissions-Policy restricts browser features like camera, microphone, and geolocation access.

How to Improve Your Score

Start by enabling HTTPS with a free certificate from Let's Encrypt. Add HSTS with a long max-age (at least one year). Implement Content-Security-Policy to control resource loading. Add X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy, and Permissions-Policy headers to your server configuration. Most web servers and CDNs like Cloudflare make this easy to configure.