| Code | IT.NET.SECR.P6 |
| Indicator Name | Secure Internet servers (per 1 million people) |
| Long definition | The number of distinct, publicly-trusted TLS/SSL certificates found in the Netcraft Secure Server Survey (by hosting country), per 1 million people. |
| Source | Secure Server Survey, Netcraft, uri: http://www.netcraft.com/;
World Bank population estimates, World Bank (WB) |
| Topic | Infrastructure: Communications |
| Dataset | WDI |
| Unit of measure | Count |
| Periodicity | Annual |
| Aggregation method | Weighted average |
| Statistical concept and methodology | Methodology: Netcraft's survey counts (unique) valid certificates issued by widely-trusted third-party certification authorities. A certificate must be valid, that is it must be within its validity period (certificates are usually valid for up to 39 months), and the digital signatures on the certificate must check successfully. It must be issued by third party certificate issuer that is recognised by Netcraft.
Netcraft gathers a list of possible SSL web sites to investigate from a range of different sources. The data reflects the December survey in that year.
SSL (Secure Socket Layer) is a protocol developed by Netscape for encrypted transmission over TCP/IP networks. It sets up a secure end-to-end link over which HTTP or any other application protocol can operate. The most common application of SSL is HTTPS for SSL-encrypted HTTP. It has now been replaced with a IETF-standardised version, TLS.
Surveying: Netcraft only visits sites on the standard HTTPS port, 443. Whilst it is possible to run an HTTPS server on a different port (using a URL like https://example.com:7000) this behavior is quite rare on public websites. For example, usual ports are often used for administrative interfaces and other services not intended for the general public.
Netcraft tries to visit every public secure website. Note that the survey does not include secure mail servers (SMTP) or intranet sites. So the final number of certificates for each certificate authority will be lower than the total number of server certificates sold by that authority. The survey makes multiple HTTPS request types to identify both web server capabilities, and the certificates in use. Netcraft makes retry visits to any non-responding IP addresses once, several hours after the failed visits. The information made available by an HTTPS server is more substantial than with http servers. The most interesting piece of information available from HTTP servers is the server signature; this can be analyzed to give straightforward empirical evidence about the relative popularity of server software on web sites across the Internet. The same information is also available from HTTPS servers. Additionally, the content of the site's X.509 certificate is available, providing details about both the company or organization owning the site, and the certificate issuer. Furthermore, in most cases the TCP/IP characteristics of the network connection allows to determine the operating system used.
Statistical concept(s): The survey examines the use of encrypted transactions through extensive automated exploration, tallying the number of web sites using HTTPS. This analysis relates to those sites found in the survey where the certificate is valid for the hostname, and the certificate has been issued from a publicly-trusted root. The indicator refers to valid, third-party certificates. Included are sites found in the survey where the common name in the certificate matched the hostname, and the certificate's digital signature was not detected as being self-signed. The location is derived from the hosting location of the sites using the certificates (rather than the countries indicated on the certificates themselves.) This analysis relates to those sites found in the survey where the common name in the certificate matched the hostname, and the certificate's digital signature was not detected as being self-signed. |
| Development relevance | The quality of an economy's infrastructure, including power and communications, is an important element in investment decisions for both domestic and foreign investors. Comparable statistics on access, use, quality, and affordability of ICT are needed to formulate growth-enabling policies for the sector and to monitor and evaluate the sector's impact on development. Although basic access data are available for many countries, in most developing countries little is known about who uses ICT; what they are used for (school, work, business, research, government); and how they affect people and businesses.
Access to telecommunication services rose on an unprecedented scale over the past two decades. This growth was driven primarily by wireless technologies and liberalization of telecommunications markets, which have enabled faster and less costly network rollout. Access is the key to delivering telecommunications services to people. If the service is not affordable to most people, goals of universal usage will not be met. Over the past decade new financing and technology, along with privatization and market liberalization, have spurred dramatic growth in telecommunications in many countries. With the rapid development of mobile telephony and the global expansion of the Internet, information and communication technologies are increasingly recognized as essential tools of development, contributing to global integration and enhancing public sector effectiveness, efficiency, and transparency. |
| Limitations and exceptions | Netcraft only visits sites on the standard HTTPS port, 443. Whilst it is possible to run an HTTPS server on a different port (using a URL like https://example.com:7000) this behaviour is quite rare on public websites. For example, usual ports are often used for administrative interfaces and other services not intended for the general public.
Netcraft tries to visit every public secure website. Note that the survey does not include secure mail servers (SMTP) or intranet sites. So the final number of certificates for each certificate authority will be lower than the total number of server certificates sold by that authority. |
| License URL | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| License Type | CC BY-4.0 |
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