A while back, I became obsessed with getting an “Extended Validation” certificate for our website, just so that we can have a little green “Panic Inc” sitting in the address bar.
You know exactly what I’m talking about:
Getting that green rectangle was, put simply, Le Pain Royale. I suppose that’s the point. It also wasn’t cheap.
After hearing me repeatedly complain about the frustrations of getting our Extended Validation certificate, our own Mike Merrill made me a compelling offer.
For the same amount of money I’d spend on an Extended Validation certificate, Mike could provide our customers with a significantly more secure and immutable validation seal, one that would provide true “trust beyond pixels”.
With this idea, VTAC was born.
Art project? Groundbreaking new level of web security? Prank? Your call.
Should you have any doubts about panic.com security, please visit our office and ask to see Mike’s arm.
VTAC seals are now available for qualified third parties. Click here to learn more or request a quote.
Tristan Seifert
11/12/2012 4:14 PMTechnically, that green bar isn’t a square but a rectangle, as it doesn’t have all four sides congruent.
But that’s cool. Y’all should push to make this an ISO standard.
Cabel
11/12/2012 4:15 PMTristan: FIXED. This will be critical for our patent.
U
11/12/2012 6:39 PMThe awesome part of this is that ‘pain’ is an actual French word. You had The Royal Bread, which is maybe an (un)intended double entendre if the sandwiches at Panic come with free salmonella or something… :-)
Jesper
11/12/2012 7:14 PMP-P-PANIC S-S-SSL.
Matt Haughey
11/12/2012 7:34 PMI got a multi-site EV cert last year and yes, it was a painful and annoying process. My lawyer (who ended up charging about $1500 for the hours it took) said he had worked on tech IPOs and the SEC didn’t ask for as much validation that Comodo demanded for a simple EV cert. It took me about four months and for all the subsites cost around $2800 for the year for the cert alone. It’s nice they really do validate things, but man, it seems like I could have proved who I was and what company I owned for a lot less trouble and effort.
K. Mikey M.
11/12/2012 9:01 PMMatt, we should talk…
Simone Manganelli
11/13/2012 12:37 AM… and after all that, Panic’s website still isn’t showing the green rectangle, at least for me. Is it supposed to?
Ali Servet Donmez
11/13/2012 3:35 AMWha’?
Antony Johnston
11/13/2012 4:36 AM@Simone, it appears when you go to the store. Click BUY on an app, and you’ll see it.
SSteve
11/20/2012 3:53 PMMike’s going to be bummed when he finds out you’re changing the name of the company on Jan 1, 2013.
Brennon
11/21/2012 8:51 PMGetting that rectangle was royal bread?? I don’t understand…
milquetoast
12/26/2012 11:35 AMit just doesn’t seem like it would evoke trustworthiness without a green graphic of a lock (or maybe a physical lock attached to his arm)
jacqueline friedberg mugshot
4/11/2013 11:22 PMThis is a very good tip particularly to those new to the blogosphere. Short but very precise information… Appreciate your sharing this one. A must read post!
jacqueline friedberb
4/12/2013 4:06 PMHi there! This blog post could not be written any better! Going through this article reminds me of my previous roommate! He constantly kept talking about this. I will send this post to him. Pretty sure he’s going to have a very good read. Thanks for sharing!
chris
4/16/2014 12:29 AMWhat is this music? I’ve never heard anything like that!