All started back in 2014 when, Google announced a call for HTTPS to be used by every website on the web. Google has 3 main reasons for this in need for creating a more secure internet, but before we talk about these, you may be wondering what HTTPS and SSL are.

What is HTTPS and SSL?

HTTPS is the acronym for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. It is a protocol used for secure communications over a computer network, like the internet. Communication over HTTPS is encrypted between the client and the server so that none can see the real data exchange and your website data are secure.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private and integral. SSL is an industry standard and is used by millions of websites in the protection of their online transactions with their customers.

SSL encryption prevents hackers from stealing private information such as credit card numbers, names and addresses. If you sell products or services on your website and accept credit cards online, you need an SSL Certificate for website security.

Why Google calling for all websites to switch to HTTPS?

This gets back to the three reasons why Google is calling for all websites to switch to HTTPS. Until recently in order to access most websites, the URL usually begins with “HTTP.” This is the unsecured version of the protocol that transfers data between the web server and the browser on your computer or smartphone.HTTP is not securing your private info, such as credit card numbers etc.

Google sees three reasons for securing your website with HTTPS and SSL. They are “Authentication,” “Data Integrity,” and “Encryption.” These three reasons speak to a number of issues that have come up when it comes to communications over the web.

Authentication addresses the issue of verifying the ownership of your website. Believe it or not, there are people out there that make replicas of websites and divert traffic to it in an effort to steal from you. Most people know that they need to check for the Green Lock in their browser before entering personal information into the website. You can go one step further and verify the SSL certificate to make sure it belongs to the website you’re on.

Data Integrity speaks to whether or not the data on the site has been tampered with while it’s in transit. If someone know’s what they are doing and your website is not secure, they can tamper with the data transmitted from your server back to the client. The form submission that the client just sent could go to the hacker and not to you.

Encryption refers to the security of communications between the client and the server so that no one else can read them. This is a key point for commercial websites. While it’s extremely important to encrypt the communications on an ecommerce website, it’s equally important to encrypt the data submitted using forms.

SSL and better Google rankings

Back in 2014, Google said that if your website was HTTPS it would give that site additional ranking signal in search results. This is a good thing for businesses that have websites that are competing with other businesses for position on search engine results pages.

In September 2016, Google announced another reason to go with HTTPS now! They started in January 2017 to begin displaying the security of the connection in the address bar of Chrome version 56 and up on pages that display a password and/or a credit card field. This is the beginning of a long-term plan to mark all HTTP pages non-secure.

First step is this

HTTPS vs HTTP Google Chrome Notification – Image credit: Google

But in the following Chrome releases the indication will be RED!

Very very bad for every website that has not an SSL certificate to work with HTTPS.

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