What’s The Difference Between HTTP and HTTPS?

What and what?! To break it down, HTTP and HTTPS are both protocols used to transfer data over the internet. However, HTTPS is a more secure version of HTTP. 

I’m sure you’ve noticed that all websites will start with http:// or https://, this is how you can tell whether the site is secure or not. Physically you won’t notice any differences when using the website. When you visit a website with HTTPS, you will see a padlock icon in the address bar of your web browser. This indicates that the connection is secure and the data being transmitted is encrypted. I wouldn’t personally feel safe entering any personal data into a website with HTTP. 

HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, and it is used to transmit information between a web server (where the company’s website is hosted) and your web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Brave, etc.). HTTP uses a port number of 80 for communication.

On the other hand, HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. HTTPS encrypts the data being transmitted using a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption protocol. This makes it difficult for attackers to intercept and steal the data being transmitted. HTTPS uses port number 443 for communication. In theory the information sent through port 443 can only be read by the user and the end server. 

Google also uses this as a ranking tool and websites using HTTPS will rank ever so slightly higher than websites using HTTP. 

It’s your corporate responsibility to take the personal data of your clients & candidates seriously but beyond that it’s a critical part of GDPR and you can face heavy fines if you’ve failed to do all in your power to protect their data. 

If your website is currently using HTTP then it is possible to migrate it to using HTTPS but you should hire a professional to do this as mistakes can easily be made. 

In summary, the main difference between HTTP and HTTPS is the level of security provided. HTTPS is a more secure protocol that uses encryption to protect data during transmission over the internet. 

And of course all websites made by Abstraction Labs use HTTPS.