Free certificates for IP addresses: security problem or solution?

Let’s Encrypt has started issuing short-lived TLS certificates for IP addresses, improving accessibility for legitimate services but also creating opportunities for phishing where attackers can use IP-based URLs that still display a padlock. The report highlights this double-edged risk, references historical certificate abuse, advises defenders to monitor certificate transparency logs for suspicious IP certificates, and provides user best practices like verifying link targets, enabling MFA, and keeping software up to date.