What Is HTTPS And Why Should I Care?

You’ve probably noticed the tiny HTTPS in the address bar of your browser when you visit some of your favorite websites, but do you know what it means? HTTPS, or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, is meant to help keep your data safe while you’re browsing the web. Most major websites have adopted HTTPS and now require it, so if you still use HTTP, then you may be exposing yourself to risks such as hackers and identity thieves. So what exactly is HTTPS and why should I care? Let’s take a look!

The history of HTTP

In 1991, while working at CERN, Tim Berners-Lee wrote a proposal for an information management system to link together hypertext documents on computers around the world. He called it HTTP—hypertext transfer protocol. As an essential part of his proposal, he suggested that his information management system should be run on top of TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol), in order to make these documents available to any computer with an Internet connection.

How does HTTPS keep you safe?

Some web pages are secure and some aren’t, but there’s a lot of confusion about what secure means and how to find it. Here we demystify those notions.

Does it cost more than HTTP?

What’s interesting is that HTTPS doesn’t cost more than HTTP. The truth is that a lot of webmasters don’t realize how much extra work it is to set up an SSL certificate and have decided not to bother with it. But, at some point, you should start thinking about your site security; if you are looking for a host and find out they don’t offer it, think twice about signing up with them.

Free tools for getting started with HTTPS

Setting up SSL certificates for your website is a bit of a pain. Thankfully, there are free tools that can help you get started. Let’s take a look at some of them and see which ones we think are best.