1. Search results, 2. Trust, 3. It is Affordable
WHAT IS HTTPS
HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is an internet communication protocol that protects the integrity and confidentiality of data between the user’s computer and a website. Users expect a secure and private online experience when using a website. Data sent using HTTPS is secured via Transport Layer Security protocol (TLS), which provides three key layers of protection:
Encryption—encrypting the exchanged data to keep it secure from eavesdroppers. That means that while the user is browsing a website, nobody can “listen” to their conversations, track their activities across multiple pages, or steal their information.
Data integrity—data cannot be modified or corrupted during transfer, intentionally or otherwise, without being detected.
Authentication—proves that your users communicate with the intended website. It protects against man-in-the-middle attacks and builds user trust, which translates into other business benefits.
1. GOOGLE SEARCH RESULTS
In Jun 2014 Google launched its drive for “HTTPS Everywhere” (See video above). In 2016 this focus was intensified and in Oct 2016 secure websites was classified as a requirement with the statement that “HTTPS and making sure your site is secure is an imperative at this point… Google will start marking things non-secure…”
This was done effective Oct 2017 when Google with its Chrome browser started to indicate what a page was not secure (http vs secure pages starting with https) and where components of pages was retrieved form non-secure pages.
Since the 2014 Google started to give preference to secure sites in search results.
2. TRUST
In order to make a site secure (change http://www.faq.co.za to https://www.faq.co.za), you need to buy & apply a SSL certificate. The certificate is issued by a certificate authority (CA), which takes steps to verify that your web address actually belongs to your organization. This is then loaded on your web server and can only be used for the domain(s) linked to that certificate.
Sites running https start in the address bar with https and or display a green lock or a greeg lock and a green bar. And if you click on the lock you can view information on which domain the certificate was issued to and by which certificate authority.
By running a https website your website users can have the trust that:
Encryption—encrypting the exchanged data to keep it secure from eavesdroppers. That means that while the user is browsing a website, nobody can “listen” to their conversations, track their activities across multiple pages, or steal their information.
Data integrity—data cannot be modified or corrupted during transfer, intentionally or otherwise, without being detected.
Authentication—proves that your users communicate with the intended website. It protects against man-in-the-middle attacks and builds user trust, which translates into other business benefits.
3. IT IS AFFORDABLE
- When https started it was expensive to buy & renew SSL certificates. Today it is affordable to buy & renew SSL certificates ( R195 for a new singe domain certificate – Jan 2018) to the extend that all new websites created by FAQ are automatically created on https.
- In the past web hosting companies charged additional fees for running on sites https. Today running https websites have become the norm & very few hosting companies now charge additional fees for hosting https sites.
- Google preference to https.
