The Difference Between HTTP and HTTPS

While HTTP and HTTPS may sound similar, they’re actually a bit different. Often times we know what HTTP is, but are unsure of the different between HTTP and HTTPS. HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. HTTP is what you’ll see in front of website address’s — it is a command to the browser to fetch that website. When you see “HTTPS”, that stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Security. Therein lies the difference between HTTP and HTTPS.

What is HTTPS?

HTTPS is still hypertext transfer protocol, but more secure. It is a combination of HTTP and secure programming, such as Secure Socket Layers (also known as SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS.) These additional programs provide encrypted communication between web servers and clients using them. Many banks, payment transactions, and login pages use HTTPS. This protocol uses the port 443. Port 443 basically is a website that is secure. So, how does HTTPS work?

How HTTPS Works

On the Internet, you’ll find many hackers who are out to steal information. HTTPS helps reduce of the risk of hacking. A good example HTTPS is Gmail.

According to Hacking Tutorial, when people input their username and login on Gmail, they have an HTTPS connection between the user and the web server. Hackers will try to capture the data there to find something interesting. However, HTTPS prevents hackers from finding plain data because the server is encrypted. Encrypted means that the data is converted into code, to prevent unauthorized access. So, the user can be sure that their Gmail account is safe.

Conclusion of HTTP and HTTPS

So if you want your computer to be secure, you should get HTTPS. Luckily, you do not really need to know how to program to get one. There are tutorials and downloads available for you. However, getting HTTPS does cost money.