{"id":657,"date":"2019-09-04T19:40:28","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T19:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/?p=657"},"modified":"2021-09-23T06:13:44","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T06:13:44","slug":"pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\/","title":{"rendered":"Pros and Cons of Wildcard SSL Certificates \u2013 Explained by SSL Security Experts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/sslproducts\/cheap-wildcard-ssl-certificates.html\">Wildcard SSL certificates<\/a> are incredibly versatile SSL certificates. A wildcard certificate is the SSL\/TLS certificate that is capable of securing a single domain and all of its subdomains at a designated level. They\u2019re a great fit for smaller companies and shared hosting environments, but there are some drawbacks to using them, too. That\u2019s why, in this article, we\u2019ll explain what wildcard SSL certificates are, how they work, and what the pros and cons of wildcard SSL certificates are.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>What is a Wildcard SSL Certificate?<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/blog\/wildcard-ssl-vs-regular-ssl-certificate-difference-explained\/\">Wildcard SSL certificates work just like any other kind of SSL certificate<\/a>, but with one key distinction: Wildcards can also encrypt an unlimited number of subdomains on a single level. A subdomain is the portion of the URL that is right in front of the domain name. Things like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>mail.website.com<\/li>\n<li>login.website.com<\/li>\n<li>ftp.website.com<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Normally, you\u2019d need to secure each of those subdomains individually, which can get expensive \u2014 especially as you add more and more. A single wildcard certificate can encrypt all of them (on a single level) at once. It\u2019s a huge time saver and, if you ever add a subdomain (even after the wildcard was issued), the certificate can be installed on the new subdomain, too.<\/p>\n<div class=\"graysection\">\n<p>We offer the best prices for wildcard SSL certificates from major certificate authorities like Comodo CA, RapidSSL, Sectigo, Thawte, and GeoTrust starting as low as $52.95 per year.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"comparebtn\" href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/sslproducts\/cheap-wildcard-ssl-certificates.html\">Shop Cheap Wildcard Certificates<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>How Does It Work?<\/h2>\n<p>As we mentioned, wildcard SSL certificates function the same as other <a href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/sslproducts.html\">SSL certificates<\/a> in many ways, but when you\u2019re generating the <a href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/blog\/what-is-a-csr-or-a-certificate-signing-request\/\">certificate signing request<\/a> (CSR), rather than listing out the domain explicitly, you place a wildcard character (*) at the sub-domain level you\u2019re encrypting. When the certificate authority (CA) issues the wildcard, you\u2019ll be able to install it on any subdomain that resides on that level of the URL.<\/p>\n<p>So, what are the pros and cons of wildcard SSL certificates? Let&#8217;s break them down individually.<\/p>\n<h2>The Advantages of Wildcard SSL Certificates<\/h2>\n<p>The biggest advantages of wildcard SSL are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cost savings in terms of both certificate purchases and management<\/li>\n<li>Ease of certificate management<\/li>\n<li>Future-proofing your website<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"graysection\">\n<h2>Sectigo OV SSL Wildcard Certificate<\/h2>\n<p>Get your organization validated Sectigo OV Wildcard and Secure unlimited subdomains on the multiple servers. It comes with 256-bit encryption, $1,000,000 warranty, unlimited server licenses, reissuances, and More.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"comparebtn\" href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/sectigo\/sectigo-ov-ssl-wildcard.html\">Shop Sectigo SSL Wildcard Certificate<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>The Disadvantages of Wildcard SSL Certificates<\/h2>\n<p>There are a few disadvantages to wildcard SSL certificates. For one, they\u2019re not available at all validation levels. You can get wildcards at domain validation (DV) and organization validation (OV), but <a href=\"https:\/\/cabforum.org\/the-ev-ssl-certificate-and-its-contents\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">not extended validation<\/a> (EV). This means that if you want to slap an EV certificate on a subdomain, you\u2019ll have to use single certificates or multi-domain certificates.<\/p>\n<p>Second, there\u2019s a common misconception that wildcards secure <em>all<\/em> subdomains. That\u2019s only partially true; these certificates secure all subdomains at the designated URL level. There are multiple subdomain levels. As you go up, URLs branch. This adds complexity. Wildcards are much more difficult to deploy on second- and third-level subdomains. A better route would be to use a <a href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/sslproducts\/multi-domain-ssl-certificates.html\">multi-domain SSL certificate<\/a> in those contexts.<\/p>\n<p>Third, the more domains and subdomains you have a key pair installed on, the more attack surface criminals have to play with. Using parallel attacks that launch requests across all the endpoints using that key pair, there have been exploits demonstrated that can compromise private keys. That\u2019s a disaster in terms of SSL\/TLS.<\/p>\n<p>Our fourth and final point is that when the key gets compromised on one domain or subdomain, it\u2019s now compromised on <em>all<\/em> of the subdomains and domains it\u2019s installed on. That amplifies your problems.<\/p>\n<p>To answer your question, \u201cAre wildcard certificates less secure?\u201d the answer is yes. Wildcard certificates are less secure because of the wider domain available for the attack.<\/p>\n<p>Wildcard SSL certificate limitations are as follows:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Wildcard certificates are not available at the extended verification (EV) level.<\/li>\n<li>Wildcard certificates are difficult to deploy on second and third level subdomains.<\/li>\n<li>If one of the domains or subdomains is hacked, the criminal can easily get to all the other subdomains.<\/li>\n<li>Risk of parallel attacks on all the endpoints.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>At CheapSSLSecurity.com, we sell wildcard SSL certificates for less than anyone on the internet. But from a security standpoint, we\u2019d suggest using multi-domain certificates, which can be configured to be more secure.<\/p>\n<div class=\"graysection\">\n<h2>Purchase a Multi-Domain SSL Certificate from CheapSSLSecurity &amp; Save Up to 89%!<\/h2>\n<p>We offer the best discount on multi-domain SSL certificates starting as low as $18.02 per year.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"comparebtn\" href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/sslproducts\/multi-domain-ssl-certificates.html\">Shop All Multi-Domain SSL Certificates<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wildcard SSL certificates are incredibly versatile SSL certificates. A wildcard certificate is the SSL\/TLS certificate that is capable of securing a single domain and all of its subdomains at a designated level. They\u2019re a great fit for smaller companies and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ssl-advanced","tag-wildcard-ssl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pros and Cons of Wildcard SSL Certificates \u2013 Explained by SSL Security Experts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Unsure of the pros and cons of wildcard SSL certificates? There are fewer disadvantages than advantages to using wildcard SSL. We&#039;ll break &#039;em down for you.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pros and Cons of Wildcard SSL Certificates \u2013 Explained by SSL Security Experts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Unsure of the pros and cons of wildcard SSL certificates? There are fewer disadvantages than advantages to using wildcard SSL. We&#039;ll break &#039;em down for you.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cheap SSL Security\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CheapSSLSecurities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-04T19:40:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-23T06:13:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"casey.crane\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sslsecurity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sslsecurity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"casey.crane\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"casey.crane\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d9c1744bb0931c1942814061a5aca108\"},\"headline\":\"Pros and Cons of Wildcard SSL Certificates \u2013 Explained by SSL Security Experts\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-04T19:40:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-23T06:13:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":786,\"keywords\":[\"wildcard SSL\"],\"articleSection\":[\"SSL Advanced\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\\\/\",\"name\":\"Pros and Cons of Wildcard SSL Certificates \u2013 Explained by SSL Security Experts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-04T19:40:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-23T06:13:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d9c1744bb0931c1942814061a5aca108\"},\"description\":\"Unsure of the pros and cons of wildcard SSL certificates? There are fewer disadvantages than advantages to using wildcard SSL. We'll break 'em down for you.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"SSL Help\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"SSL Advanced\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/ssl-advanced\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Pros and Cons of Wildcard SSL Certificates \u2013 Explained by SSL Security Experts\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cheap SSL Security\",\"description\":\"Shop for SSL Certificates at Cheap Prices\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cheapsslsecurity.com\\\/p\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d9c1744bb0931c1942814061a5aca108\",\"name\":\"casey.crane\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c18d819d34a1995e91a4aa7518e9048df7856f336a1ede2262a572db7b1c2506?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c18d819d34a1995e91a4aa7518e9048df7856f336a1ede2262a572db7b1c2506?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c18d819d34a1995e91a4aa7518e9048df7856f336a1ede2262a572db7b1c2506?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"casey.crane\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pros and Cons of Wildcard SSL Certificates \u2013 Explained by SSL Security Experts","description":"Unsure of the pros and cons of wildcard SSL certificates? There are fewer disadvantages than advantages to using wildcard SSL. We'll break 'em down for you.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pros and Cons of Wildcard SSL Certificates \u2013 Explained by SSL Security Experts","og_description":"Unsure of the pros and cons of wildcard SSL certificates? There are fewer disadvantages than advantages to using wildcard SSL. We'll break 'em down for you.","og_url":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\/","og_site_name":"Cheap SSL Security","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CheapSSLSecurities","article_published_time":"2019-09-04T19:40:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-09-23T06:13:44+00:00","author":"casey.crane","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@sslsecurity","twitter_site":"@sslsecurity","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"casey.crane","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\/"},"author":{"name":"casey.crane","@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/#\/schema\/person\/d9c1744bb0931c1942814061a5aca108"},"headline":"Pros and Cons of Wildcard SSL Certificates \u2013 Explained by SSL Security Experts","datePublished":"2019-09-04T19:40:28+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-23T06:13:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\/"},"wordCount":786,"keywords":["wildcard SSL"],"articleSection":["SSL Advanced"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\/","url":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\/","name":"Pros and Cons of Wildcard SSL Certificates \u2013 Explained by SSL Security Experts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-09-04T19:40:28+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-23T06:13:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/#\/schema\/person\/d9c1744bb0931c1942814061a5aca108"},"description":"Unsure of the pros and cons of wildcard SSL certificates? There are fewer disadvantages than advantages to using wildcard SSL. We'll break 'em down for you.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/pros-and-cons-of-wildcard-ssl-certificates-explained-by-ssl-security-experts\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"SSL Help","item":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"SSL Advanced","item":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/ssl-advanced\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Pros and Cons of Wildcard SSL Certificates \u2013 Explained by SSL Security Experts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/","name":"Cheap SSL Security","description":"Shop for SSL Certificates at Cheap Prices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/#\/schema\/person\/d9c1744bb0931c1942814061a5aca108","name":"casey.crane","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c18d819d34a1995e91a4aa7518e9048df7856f336a1ede2262a572db7b1c2506?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c18d819d34a1995e91a4aa7518e9048df7856f336a1ede2262a572db7b1c2506?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c18d819d34a1995e91a4aa7518e9048df7856f336a1ede2262a572db7b1c2506?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"casey.crane"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheapsslsecurity.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}