diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ff20996..02fbb33 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 *.pyc
 /*.egg-info/
 /dist/
+.idea
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pusherclient/__init__.py b/pusherclient/__init__.py
index acd5ec9..98a38fa 100755
--- a/pusherclient/__init__.py
+++ b/pusherclient/__init__.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import hashlib
 import hmac
 import logging
+import sys
 
 
 try:
@@ -10,6 +11,7 @@
 except ImportError:
     import json
 
+PY3 = sys.version_info[0] == 3
 
 VERSION = "0.2.0"
 
@@ -21,6 +23,12 @@ class Pusher(object):
 
     def __init__(self, key, secure=True, secret=None, user_data=None, log_level=logging.INFO, daemon=True, port=None, reconnect_interval=10):
         self.key = key
+        if PY3:
+            string_type = str
+        else:
+            string_type = basestring
+        if isinstance(secret, string_type):
+            secret = secret.encode('utf8')
         self.secret = secret
         self.user_data = user_data or {}
 
@@ -106,7 +114,7 @@ def _generate_private_key(socket_id, key, channel_name, secret):
 
         if socket_id and key and channel_name and secret:
             subject = "%s:%s" % (socket_id, channel_name)
-            h = hmac.new(secret, subject, hashlib.sha256)
+            h = hmac.new(secret, subject.encode('utf8'), hashlib.sha256)
             auth_key = "%s:%s" % (key, h.hexdigest())
 
         return auth_key
@@ -117,7 +125,7 @@ def _generate_presence_key(socket_id, key, channel_name, secret, user_data):
 
         if socket_id and key and channel_name and secret and user_data:
             subject = "%s:%s:%s" % (socket_id, channel_name, json.dumps(user_data))
-            h = hmac.new(secret, subject, hashlib.sha256)
+            h = hmac.new(secret, subject.encode('utf8'), hashlib.sha256)
             auth_key = "%s:%s" % (key, h.hexdigest())
 
         return auth_key
diff --git a/pusherclient/connection.py b/pusherclient/connection.py
index 75fe53f..9a2a970 100755
--- a/pusherclient/connection.py
+++ b/pusherclient/connection.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import websocket
 import logging
 import time
+import ssl
 
 try:
     import simplejson as json
@@ -105,7 +106,7 @@ def _connect(self):
             on_close=self._on_close
         )
 
-        self.socket.run_forever()
+        self.socket.run_forever(sslopt={"cert_reqs": ssl.CERT_NONE})
 
         while self.needs_reconnect and not self.disconnect_called:
             self.logger.info("Attempting to connect again in %s seconds."
@@ -116,7 +117,7 @@ def _connect(self):
             # We need to set this flag since closing the socket will set it to
             # false
             self.socket.keep_running = True
-            self.socket.run_forever()
+            self.socket.run_forever(sslopt={"cert_reqs": ssl.CERT_NONE})
 
     def _on_open(self, ws):
         self.logger.info("Connection: Connection opened")