40 Million People Could Lose Access to Popular Websites on January 1st

How would you feel about starting the new year with no access to your favourite websites like Twitter, Facebook or Google?

Chances are you would feel uninformed and disconnected from the rest of the world.

Unfortunately for many people in the world, this will come true.

On the morning of January 1, 2016, anyone using a cell phone that’s more than five years old will no longer be granted access to the encrypted web, according to a new plan aimed at getting those sites verified, Cloudflare reports.

For a big city like Toronto, the chances of ever crossing paths with someone using a phone that’s older than five years seems quite unlikely.

But for those living in developing countries and using outdated mobile devices, seven per cent of internet users could be abruptly cut off from some of the world’s most popular websites, Buzzfeed reports.

Image: Cloudfare

Image: Cloudfare

So, why is this happening now?

Most of the internet is already properly encrypted. Knowing that you are accessing encrypted sites is important because it allows you to know that you have visited the real version that you intended to visit, instead of an imitation version of your bank, for example.

According to Buzzfeed, all websites are encrypted with a “cryptographic hashing algorithm,” which is a code that the website you’re currently visiting is put into and then translated by your browser, providing that the site is authentic.

You can tell if a website is encrypted if a web address starts with https:// or if there is a closed padlock in the web browser.

These changes to popular websites are being instated because the current encrypted certificates (which are called SHA-1) are no longer safe, as hackers may be able to access them by the end of the year.

So as of Jan. 1, SHA-1 certificates will no longer work and a stronger certificate (SHA-2) will be used instead.

Those still using outdated phones that won’t be able to use the new encryption certificate will lose access to their favourite encrypted sites.

According to Cloudflare, the five most affected countries will include China (6.08%), Cameroon (5.39%), Yemen (5.25%), Sudan (4.69%) and Egypt (4.85%).

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