Wednesday, February 11, 2009

the difference between http and https... quite interesting!



This is something not discussed often enough.

Say you're charging something at Eddie Bauer on the web.

Once you go to the credit card section just make certain https is in the address above NOT http.

Don't know how many are aware of this difference, but worth sending to any that do not......

What is the difference between http and https?

Maybe you already knew this, but I thought it was important enough to send even if you already know.

**The main difference between http:// and https:// is It's all about keeping you secure**

HTTP stands for Hyper Text Transport Protocol, which is just a fancy way of saying it's a protocol (a language, in a manner of speaking) for information to be passed back and forth between web servers and clients.

The important thing is the letter S which makes the difference between HTTP and HTTPS.

The S (big surprise) stands for "Secure".

If you visit a website or webpage, and look at the address in the web browser, it will likely begin with the following: http://.
This means that the website is talking to your browser using the regular 'unsecure' language.

In other words, it is possible for someone to "eavesdrop" on your computer's conversation with the website.

If you fill out a form on the website, someone might see the information you send to that site.

This is why you never ever enter your credit card number in an http website!

But if the web address begins with https://, that basically means your computer is talking to the website in a secure code that no one can eavesdrop on.

You understand why this is so important, right?

If a website ever asks you to enter your credit card information, you should automatically look to see if the web address begins with https://.

If it doesn't, there's no way you're going to enter sensitive information like a credit card number.

PASS IT ON (You may save someone a lot of grief).