Venafi is a strong proponent of and is always encouraging people to move to HTTPS for several reasons such as performance benefits, security, and even SEO advantages. While we constantly use the acronyms HTTP and HTTPS, it is equally important to understand the basics of how they work and what their differences are. Show  In a NutshellHTTPS is HTTP with encryption. The difference between the two protocols is that HTTPS uses TLS (SSL) to encrypt normal HTTP requests and responses. As a result, HTTPS is far more secure than HTTP. A website that uses HTTP has HTTP:// in its URL, while a website that uses HTTPS has HTTPS://. Figure 1: HTTP vs HTTPS. Image source: Cloudflare What is HTTP?HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, and it is a protocol—or a prescribed order and syntax for presenting information—used for transferring data over a network. Most information that is sent over the Internet, including website content and API calls, uses the HTTP protocol. What is an HTTP request and how does it work?There are two main kinds of HTTP messages: requests and responses. HTTP requests are generated by a user's browser as the user interacts with web properties. For example, if a user clicks on a hyperlink, the browser will send a series of "HTTP GET" requests for the content that appears on that page. These HTTP requests go to either an origin server or a proxy caching server, and that server will generate an HTTP response. HTTP responses are answers to HTTP requests. HTTP requests and responses are sent across the Internet in plaintext. The problem is that anyone monitoring the connection can read these plaintexts. This is especially an issue when users submit sensitive data via a website or a web application. This could be a password, a credit card number, or any other data typed into a form. Essentially, a malicious actor can just read the text in the request or the response and know exactly what information someone is asking for, sending, or receiving, and even manipulate the communication. The answer to above security problem is HTTPS. What is HTTPS?HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (also referred to as HTTP over TLS or HTTP over SSL). HTTPS uses TLS (or SSL) to encrypt HTTP requests and responses, so instead of the plaintext, an attacker would see a series of seemingly random characters. TLS uses a technology called public key encryption: there are two keys, a public key and a private key. The public key is shared with client devices via the server's SSL certificate. The certificates are cryptographically signed by a Certificate Authority (CA), and each browser has a list of CAs it implicitly trusts. Any certificate signed by a CA in the trusted list is given a green padlock lock in the browser’s address bar, because it is proven to be “trusted” and belongs to that domain. Companies like Let’s Encrypt have now made the process of issuing SSL/TLS certificates free. When a client opens a connection with a server, each machine needs a verified identity. So, the two devices use the public and private key to agree on new keys, called session keys, to encrypt further communications between them. All HTTP requests and responses are then encrypted with these session keys, so that anyone who intercepts communications can only see a random string of characters, not the plaintext. In addition to encrypting communication, HTTPS is used for authenticating the two communicating parties. Authentication means verifying that a person or machine is who they claim to be. In HTTP, there is no verification of identity—it is based on a principle of trust. But on the modern Internet, authentication is essential. Just like an ID card confirms a person's identity, a private key confirms server identity. When a client opens a channel with an origin server (e.g. when a user navigates to a website), possession of the private key that matches with the public key in a website's SSL certificate proves that the server is actually the legitimate host of the website. This prevents or helps block a number of attacks that are possible when there is no authentication, such as Man-in-the-middle attacks, DNS hijacking, and domain spoofing. Differences between HTTP and HTTPSBased on the above presentation of HTTP and HTTPS, the following table presents the main differences between those two protocols. Table 1: Differences between HTTP and HTTPS ConclusionHTTPS comes with many advantages, both performance and, most important, security wise. All browsers are strongly encouraging users to trust only websites implementing HTTPS because this is the single measure that can help them mitigate a variety of threats and attacks.
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Featured Blog For PCI DSS 4.0, Key and Certificate Management Top PriorityBest Practices With PCI DSS 4.0, Read More What does the HTTPS at the beginning of a URL mean as opposed to HTTP without the s?This can be addressed by using a secure version called HTTPS, where the "S" stands for secure. This involves the use of an SSL certificate -- "SSL" stands for secure sockets layer -- which creates a secure encrypted connection between the web server and the web browser. Without HTTPS, any data passed is insecure.
Why do websites use HTTPS instead of HTTP?HTTPS protects the integrity of your website #
HTTPS helps prevent intruders from tampering with the communications between your websites and your users' browsers. Intruders include intentionally malicious attackers, and legitimate but intrusive companies, such as ISPs or hotels that inject ads into pages.
Why do some websites start with HTTPS?The S in HTTPS stands for secure. So, if the URL you're visiting starts with HTTPS that means that your browser and the web server are having the exact same conversation, but all of the information is encrypted, or more secure. “Only your browser and the web server possess the key to decrypt it.
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What does it mean when a website URL starts with HTTPS instead of HTTP without the s )?
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