In the past, having a secure website was not considered necessary for websites dealing with confidential, sensitive and financial information. Now a lot of things have changed. Almost everyday malicious cyber crimes are happening.
Say, you are using your smartphone on a public WiFi connection in an airport. When you view some insecure website (those using only HTTP) you run a higher risk of having your session tampered with. While using public WiFi networks, it is a good practice to avoid browsing websites where you are viewing or sending highly sensitive data.
Green Address Bar for HTTPS
Starting in January, Chrome displays a “not secure” label to the left of the URL field. Google is making more efforts to educate the importance of security to all of their users. Most people do not realize the difference and this small change will bring more awareness to the users of this digital age.
HTTP vs. HTTPS
In a nutshell, HTTP is the system used to transfer information across the web. HTTPS is the secure version.
HTTP Vs HTTPS: Graphical Illustration
When you see the URL of a website that uses HTTPS instead of HTTP, it is using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) to transfer the information securely.
Why Switch to HTTPS?
There are a few benefits of switching to HTTPS. First and foremost is security.
HTTPS Security Benefits
HTTPS helps prevent unwanted meddling with the communications between your web server and your browser. It encrypts things like browser history, credit card information and anything passed between the browser and your website. HTTPS confirms the identity of the website and makes sure that the information your user might be sending through it is not tampered with along the way. It is very important to ensure Information security in all aspects of our life. No online financial transaction should be made unless you have HTTPS in place.
Search Engine Ranking Benefits
Back in August 2014, Google officially announced that switching your website over to HTTPS will give you a minor ranking boost. They want users to be secure as much as possible when browsing the web. As the largest search engine in the world, they have some level of social responsibility to protect the users from unwanted tampering while browsing the web.
Page Ranking Boost in Google with HTTPS
Google has always pushed hard for usability by displaying a mobile-friendly tag in search results for mobile sites. Security is no different. It is not clear if the other major search engines give similar boost for having HTTPS.
Technology Benefits
HTTPS is significantly faster than HTTP. The exact percentage of performance boost depends on a number of factors. Many new technologies require the use of HTTPS including offline in-browser experiences.
Thanks for reading this article.
Stay Safe, Keep Safe.
