diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 07e2704..4498cf1 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,6 +20,14 @@ username=MyUserName
 password=MyPassword
 ```
 
+If you are using an `https://` URL and want to disable certificate
+verification, you can add:
+
+```
+verify_ssl=false
+```
+
+
 ## Development
 
 To install with dependancies for testing.
diff --git a/channelfinder/ChannelFinderClient.py b/channelfinder/ChannelFinderClient.py
index 6550a49..262b8dd 100644
--- a/channelfinder/ChannelFinderClient.py
+++ b/channelfinder/ChannelFinderClient.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 from requests.exceptions import HTTPError
 import urllib3
 from copy import copy
+from typing import Optional
 
 try:
     from json import JSONEncoder
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@ class ChannelFinderClient(object):
     __propertiesResource = "/resources/properties"
     __tagsResource = "/resources/tags"
 
-    def __init__(self, BaseURL=None, username=None, password=None, verify_ssl=True):
+    def __init__(self, BaseURL=None, username=None, password=None, verify_ssl=None):
         """
         Channel finder client object. It provides a connection object to perform the following operations:
             - find:     find all channels satisfying given searching criteria
@@ -37,15 +38,19 @@ def __init__(self, BaseURL=None, username=None, password=None, verify_ssl=True):
             - update:   update channel information
             - delete:   delete channel from service
 
+        If any of the arguments is ``None``, the respective value from the
+        configuration file is used.
+
         :param BaseURL: the url of the channel finder service
         :param username: user name authorized by channel finder service
         :param password: password for the authorized user
+        :param verify_ssl: verify the peer TLS certificate
         """
         try:
             self.__baseURL = self.__getDefaultConfig("BaseURL", BaseURL)
             self.__userName = self.__getDefaultConfig("username", username)
             self.__password = self.__getDefaultConfig("password", password)
-            self.__verify_ssl = self.__getDefaultConfig("verify_ssl", verify_ssl)
+            self.__verify_ssl = self._get_boolean_config("verify_ssl", verify_ssl)
             if self.__userName and self.__password:
                 self.__auth = auth.HTTPBasicAuth(self.__userName, self.__password)
             else:
@@ -58,19 +63,34 @@ def __init__(self, BaseURL=None, username=None, password=None, verify_ssl=True):
         except Exception as e:
             raise RuntimeError("Error creating ChannelFinderClient: " + str(e))
 
-    def __getDefaultConfig(self, key, ref):
+    def __getDefaultConfig(self, key, override):
         """
         Get default configuration for given name and section.
 
         :param key: key word
-        :param ref: reference value
-        :return: result if key word is configured or ref is not None, otherwise None
+        :param override: override value
+        :return: ``override`` if not ``None``, else the configuration value
+            associated with ``key`` if present, otherwise ``None``.
         """
-        result = ref
-        if ref is None:
+        result = override
+        if override is None:
             result = basecfg["DEFAULT"].get(key, None)
         return result
 
+    def _get_boolean_config(self, key: str, override: Optional[bool]) -> bool:
+        """
+        Get boolean configuration for given name and section.
+
+        :param key: key word
+        :param override: override value
+        :return: ``override`` if not ``None``, else the configuration value
+            associated with ``key`` if present, otherwise ``None``.
+        """
+        result = override
+        if override is None:
+            result = basecfg["DEFAULT"].getboolean(key, None)
+        return bool(result)
+
     def set(self, **kwds):
         """
         method to allow various types of set operations on one or many channels, tags or properties
@@ -161,7 +181,6 @@ def __handleSingleAddParameter(self, **kwds):
                 + kwds["channel"]["name"],
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(kwds["channel"]),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             )
             r.raise_for_status()
@@ -170,7 +189,6 @@ def __handleSingleAddParameter(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__channelsResource,
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(kwds["channels"]),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             )
             r.raise_for_status()
@@ -179,7 +197,6 @@ def __handleSingleAddParameter(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__tagsResource + "/" + kwds["tag"]["name"],
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(kwds["tag"]),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             )
             r.raise_for_status()
@@ -189,7 +206,6 @@ def __handleSingleAddParameter(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__tagsResource,
                 data=data,
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             )
             r.raise_for_status()
@@ -201,7 +217,6 @@ def __handleSingleAddParameter(self, **kwds):
                 + kwds["property"]["name"],
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(kwds["property"]),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             )
             r.raise_for_status()
@@ -212,7 +227,6 @@ def __handleSingleAddParameter(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__propertiesResource,
                 data=data,
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             )
             r.raise_for_status()
@@ -238,7 +252,6 @@ def __handleMultipleAddParameters(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__tagsResource + "/" + kwds["tag"]["name"],
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(data),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             ).raise_for_status()
         elif "tag" in kwds and "channelNames" in kwds:
@@ -251,7 +264,6 @@ def __handleMultipleAddParameters(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__tagsResource + "/" + kwds["tag"]["name"],
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(data),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             ).raise_for_status()
         elif "property" in kwds and "channels" in kwds:
@@ -264,7 +276,6 @@ def __handleMultipleAddParameters(self, **kwds):
                 + kwds["property"]["name"],
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(data),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             ).raise_for_status()
         else:
@@ -365,7 +376,6 @@ def findByArgs(self, args):
             url,
             params=args,
             headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-            verify=False,
             auth=self.__auth,
         )
         try:
@@ -385,9 +395,7 @@ def findTag(self, tagname):
         :return: Tag object if found, otherwise None
         """
         url = self.__baseURL + self.__tagsResource + "/" + tagname
-        r = self.__session.get(
-            url, headers=copy(self.__jsonheader), verify=False, auth=self.__auth
-        )
+        r = self.__session.get(url, headers=copy(self.__jsonheader), auth=self.__auth)
         try:
             r.raise_for_status()
             return r.json()
@@ -405,7 +413,7 @@ def findProperty(self, propertyname):
         :return: Property object if found, otherwise None
         """
         url = self.__baseURL + self.__propertiesResource + "/" + propertyname
-        r = self.__session.get(url, headers=copy(self.__jsonheader), verify=False)
+        r = self.__session.get(url, headers=copy(self.__jsonheader))
         try:
             r.raise_for_status()
             return r.json()
@@ -422,7 +430,7 @@ def getAllTags(self):
         :return: list of all the Tag objects present, otherwise None.
         """
         url = self.__baseURL + self.__tagsResource
-        r = self.__session.get(url, headers=copy(self.__jsonheader), verify=False)
+        r = self.__session.get(url, headers=copy(self.__jsonheader))
         try:
             r.raise_for_status()
             return r.json()
@@ -439,7 +447,7 @@ def getAllProperties(self):
         :return: list of the Property objects present, otherwise None
         """
         url = self.__baseURL + self.__propertiesResource
-        r = self.__session.get(url, headers=copy(self.__jsonheader), verify=False)
+        r = self.__session.get(url, headers=copy(self.__jsonheader))
         try:
             r.raise_for_status()
             return r.json()
@@ -504,12 +512,12 @@ def __handleSingleDeleteParameter(self, **kwds):
                 + kwds["channelName"].strip()
             )
             self.__session.delete(
-                url, headers=copy(self.__jsonheader), verify=False, auth=self.__auth
+                url, headers=copy(self.__jsonheader), auth=self.__auth
             ).raise_for_status()
         elif "tagName" in kwds:
             url = self.__baseURL + self.__tagsResource + "/" + kwds["tagName"].strip()
             self.__session.delete(
-                url, verify=False, headers=copy(self.__jsonheader), auth=self.__auth
+                url, headers=copy(self.__jsonheader), auth=self.__auth
             ).raise_for_status()
         elif "propertyName" in kwds:
             url = (
@@ -519,7 +527,7 @@ def __handleSingleDeleteParameter(self, **kwds):
                 + kwds["propertyName"].strip()
             )
             self.__session.delete(
-                url, headers=copy(self.__jsonheader), verify=False, auth=self.__auth
+                url, headers=copy(self.__jsonheader), auth=self.__auth
             ).raise_for_status()
         else:
             raise RuntimeError(
@@ -545,7 +553,6 @@ def __handleMultipleDeleteParameters(self, **kwds):
                 + "/"
                 + kwds["channelName"].strip(),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             ).raise_for_status()
         elif "tag" in kwds and "channelNames" in kwds:
@@ -568,7 +575,6 @@ def __handleMultipleDeleteParameters(self, **kwds):
                 + "/"
                 + kwds["channelName"],
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             ).raise_for_status()
         elif "property" in kwds and "channelNames" in kwds:
@@ -674,7 +680,6 @@ def __handleSingleUpdateParameter(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__channelsResource + "/" + ch["name"],
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(ch),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             )
             r.raise_for_status()
@@ -684,7 +689,6 @@ def __handleSingleUpdateParameter(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__channelsResource,
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(chs),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             )
             r.raise_for_status()
@@ -694,7 +698,6 @@ def __handleSingleUpdateParameter(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__propertiesResource + "/" + property["name"],
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(property),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             )
             r.raise_for_status()
@@ -704,7 +707,6 @@ def __handleSingleUpdateParameter(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__tagsResource + "/" + tag["name"],
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(tag),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             )
             r.raise_for_status()
@@ -713,7 +715,6 @@ def __handleSingleUpdateParameter(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__tagsResource,
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(kwds["tags"]),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             )
             r.raise_for_status()
@@ -750,7 +751,6 @@ def __handleMultipleUpdateParameters(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__tagsResource + "/" + tag["name"],
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(tag),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             ).raise_for_status()
         elif "tag" in kwds and "channelNames" in kwds:
@@ -767,7 +767,6 @@ def __handleMultipleUpdateParameters(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__tagsResource + "/" + tag["name"],
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(tag),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             ).raise_for_status()
         elif "property" in kwds and "channelName" in kwds:
@@ -786,7 +785,6 @@ def __handleMultipleUpdateParameters(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__propertiesResource + "/" + property["name"],
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(property),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             ).raise_for_status()
         elif "property" in kwds and "channelNames" in kwds:
@@ -807,7 +805,6 @@ def __handleMultipleUpdateParameters(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__propertiesResource + "/" + property["name"],
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(property),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             ).raise_for_status()
         elif "originalChannelName" in kwds and "channel" in kwds:
@@ -817,7 +814,6 @@ def __handleMultipleUpdateParameters(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__channelsResource + "/" + channelName,
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(ch),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             ).raise_for_status()
         elif "originalPropertyName" in kwds and "property" in kwds:
@@ -827,7 +823,6 @@ def __handleMultipleUpdateParameters(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__propertiesResource + "/" + propName,
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(prop),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             ).raise_for_status()
         elif "originalTagName" in kwds and "tag" in kwds:
@@ -837,7 +832,6 @@ def __handleMultipleUpdateParameters(self, **kwds):
                 self.__baseURL + self.__tagsResource + "/" + tagName,
                 data=JSONEncoder().encode(tag),
                 headers=copy(self.__jsonheader),
-                verify=False,
                 auth=self.__auth,
             ).raise_for_status()
         else:
diff --git a/test/_testConf.py b/test/_testConf.py
index 5e8533b..1d5c4ba 100644
--- a/test/_testConf.py
+++ b/test/_testConf.py
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ def __loadConfig():
         "username": "admin",
         "password": "adminPass",
         "owner": "cf-update",
+        "verify_ssl": "False",
         "channelOwner": "cf-channels",
         "channelUsername": "admin",
         "channelPassword": "adminPass",
diff --git a/test/testCFPpropertyManager.py b/test/testCFPpropertyManager.py
index 3c1d452..7f50501 100644
--- a/test/testCFPpropertyManager.py
+++ b/test/testCFPpropertyManager.py
@@ -6,12 +6,8 @@
 
 from _testConf import _testConf, ChannelFinderClientTestCase
 
-import urllib3
-
 from channelfinder.cfPropertyManager import CFPropertyManager
 
-urllib3.disable_warnings()
-
 
 class CFPropertyManagerTest(ChannelFinderClientTestCase):
     def setUp(self):
diff --git a/test/testCFUpdateIOC.py b/test/testCFUpdateIOC.py
index c14bdaa..504babf 100644
--- a/test/testCFUpdateIOC.py
+++ b/test/testCFUpdateIOC.py
@@ -22,10 +22,6 @@
 
 from _testConf import _testConf, ChannelFinderClientTestCase
 
-import urllib3
-
-urllib3.disable_warnings()
-
 
 class UpdateIOCTest(ChannelFinderClientTestCase):
     def setUp(self):
diff --git a/test/testChannelFinderClient.py b/test/testChannelFinderClient.py
index 23fbb42..42ca7c4 100644
--- a/test/testChannelFinderClient.py
+++ b/test/testChannelFinderClient.py
@@ -13,10 +13,6 @@
 from channelfinder.util import ChannelUtil
 from _testConf import _testConf, ChannelFinderClientTestCase
 
-import urllib3
-
-urllib3.disable_warnings()
-
 
 class ConnectionTest(ChannelFinderClientTestCase):
     def testConnection(self):
diff --git a/test/testChannelUtil.py b/test/testChannelUtil.py
index c8e1695..ae857fd 100644
--- a/test/testChannelUtil.py
+++ b/test/testChannelUtil.py
@@ -11,10 +11,6 @@
 from channelfinder import Channel, Property, Tag
 from channelfinder.util import ChannelUtil
 
-import urllib3
-
-urllib3.disable_warnings()
-
 
 class ChannelUtilTest(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):