Modern times have witnessed a more sophisticated way of stealing data and stalking a person on the internet.
The HTTP connection used by many websites is enough to lure malevolent minds to fulfill their intentions. Google is determined to demote the adoption of HTTP connection by websites.
The reason behind this objective is that the HTTP connection is not secure. What does that mean? If a website uses an HTTP connection, the passwords and credit card details you type there are sent in plain text over the network making it possible for any middleman to read all of it. And it is not only about the credit card numbers, a website using an HTTP connection can be modified by a person before it reaches your computer.
Another matter of concern is that people don’t give a second thought while accessing a website that’s not secure. The security indicators placed in web browsers are left unnoticed. Hence, the situation becomes more alarming.
Google wants the websites to shift to the HTTPS connection which uses SSL/TLS encryption to send data. So, when you type your credit card numbers they are converted into random-looking characters before being sent over the network.
“Beginning in January 2017 (Chrome 56), we’ll mark HTTP sites that transmit passwords or credit cards as non-secure, as part of a long-term plan to mark all HTTP sites as non-secure,” writes Emily Schechter, Google Security Team.
Schechter notes that a significant number of websites have transitioned to HTTPS and the number is increasing. “We recently hit a milestone with more than half of Chrome desktop page loads now served over HTTPS,” she writes.
In the coming months, Google will extensively encourage the frequency of “not secure” warning label on HTTP web pages in Google Chrome. Initially, HTTP warnings would be displayed in incognito mode and for all the web pages after some time.
HTTPS has many advantages over the HTTP connection and it helps in protecting your confidential information. Google is not alone acting to boost the adoption of HTTPS. A few months ago, the website hosting platform WordPress turned on HTTPS for all of its websites for free.
Check out how an HTTPS page loads faster than an HTTP page.