By carefully observing, you will find that some websites start with http, while others start with https.
Why is there such a difference? What are the distinctions between the two? The internet police will explain:
HTTP, also known as Hypertext Transfer Protocol, is a protocol we use daily for browsing the web. It is a standard for requests and responses between clients and servers.
When we use a browser to browse a webpage, our client initiates an HTTP request to a specified port on the server, and then the server responds. This is how we achieve web browsing.
HTTPS adds an SSL layer on top of HTTP. SSL is a security protocol that provides security and data integrity for network communications. It ensures that data is encrypted during transmission over the network, preventing interception and eavesdropping.
A server using HTTPS must apply for a certificate from a Certificate Authority (CA) to prove the server’s purpose. This certificate is only trusted by the client when used with the corresponding server. Therefore, all critical data input pages on payment system websites are HTTPS. Clients trust this certificate, which in turn trusts the host, ensuring payment security.
Did you not understand?
In simple terms, HTTP websites use plaintext transmission, meaning they are not encrypted; whereas HTTPS websites use ciphertext transmission, which is encrypted. Therefore, the security of the two is significantly different.
Additionally, the HTTPS protocol requires a certificate from a CA, and generally, free certificates are rare and often require payment, while HTTP does not require this. Thus, the security level of a website can be simply assessed based on its URL.
It is worth noting that not all pages of the same website are encrypted with HTTPS.
Therefore, when you need to enter important information such as bank account numbers, you should pay extra attention and check for an “S” before proceeding. This will help ensure that some personal information remains secure and is not leaked.
