Not that many years ago, the only existing web protocol was HTTP, and it didn't have any significant problems as far as people in the late 90's were concerned. But as cyber-attacks advanced and became more complicated, the need for a secure protocol increased and this gave way to the creation of HTTPS. When people try to answer "What is HTTPS?", they sometimes fail to acknowledge the role it played in making websites as secure as they are today. The creation of HTTPS also made CDN HTTPS possible, which was created nearly 4 years after the HTTPS protocol was introduced in 1994.
If you’re asking yourself: What is a CDN and how does it work? You can check out some of our articles on the topic. And as for your other questions regarding “What is HTTPS?”, keep on reading to find out.
The Basics of HTTPS
When put in simple terms, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, more commonly known as HTTPS, is the HTTP protocol but more secure. Its security is in part because of the SSL/TLS protocol that it uses to encrypt and authenticate the information sent between a client and a web service. But since new clients need to make two round trips only to start loading a page, some website owners use CDN HTTPS.
Differences Between HTTPS and HTTP
There are numerous differences between these two, with the most note-worthy one being the use of SSL/TLS certificates in HTTPS. These certificates, which we’ll get into later, are in charge of keeping your most private information safe from being intercepted.
What is HTTP?
Somewhat similar to HTTPS, HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol and it used to be the only protocol used for sending and receiving data over the Internet. However because HTTP was a text-based protocol, its data packets were readable by anyone with access to the packets.
The HTTP protocol’s lack of encryption and its high risk of data breaches made way for a more secure version called HTTPS. This new protocol used SSL/TLS certificates to ensure data integrity with the help of the TLS security protocol.
What is TLS?
The Transport Layer Security (TLS) security protocol encrypts every bit of data that you send or receive—which keeps your private information safe from interception by a third party.
In comparison with SSL, the TLS protocol uses more secure encryption algorithms to authenticate sent/received data. Through a TLS handshake, a secure communication session will be set up between the client and the web server by creating a secret key. This key is used to make sure the sent/received data wasn’t compromised on the way. Now that you know the answer to “what is HTTPS?”, let’s see the downsides of not using HTTPS.
Limitations of HTTP
One of the more significant limitations of HTTP is the lack of encryption when sending or receiving data packets. Since the data sent over HTTP is plain text, it’s much easier to intercept and read.
Because of the lack of encryption in the HTTP protocol, there’s a chance of the data being tampered with between the client and the server. The same lack of encryption makes authentication impossible, increasing the chances of security breaches even more.
The last note-worthy limitation of HTTP is its vulnerability to Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks. This type of cyber-attack involves an attacker intercepting the data transmission and possibly altering the data packets.
What Happens if You Don’t Use HTTPS
As we’ve already mentioned, HTTPS keeps your website and the visitors’ information safe from being intercepted and snooped on. The HTTP protocol breaks information into packets that can be accessed and read by using the right software.
Websites that don’t use HTTPS make it possible (read easier) for Internet service providers to inject whatever content they want into web pages. This is what internet service providers usually do; they inject paid ads into others' web pages without approval in order to increase their own revenue. However, this does not mean that the website owner will be getting any of the profits.
Benefits of HTTPS
A website that uses HTTPS is looking to keep their visitors safe and Google definitely takes notice. Using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure is one of Google’s quality factors and as of 2018, all websites that use HTTP have been flagged as “not secure”. This means visitors are less likely to stay on your website or even visit it again in the future.
The second benefit of using HTTPS is its security for both you, the website owner, and the visitors. The importance of online security often goes unnoticed, especially since most websites nowadays use SSL/TLS certificates.
Consider this scenario: You’re finishing up an order on Amazon and are entering your credit card information to complete the transaction. What if a third party places themselves between you and the server, compromising your bank account information? That’s why websites must use the HTTPS protocol—to protect sensitive data from eavesdropping.
Finally, another answer to “What is HTTPS?” is that this protocol is HTTP, but with an added authentication. The SSL/TLS certificates that websites use have a public key for browsers to be able to authenticate the sent data with the client’s private key. By doing so, SSL/TLS can confirm both parties are who they say they are and prevent MITM attacks.
Types of SSL/TLS Certificates
The SSL/TLS certificates that we’ve talked so much about, are a major aspect of HTTPS concept. These certificates make sure the data transmission between you and the server is secure and not at all compromised.
Domain Validated (DV): This certificate is one of the more basic ones you could get and it simply verifies the domain’s ownership. Mainly used for personal websites.
Organization Validated (OV): This certificate validates the domain ownership and every other information about your company (read: ‘legal entity’). These certificates are more often used by businesses.
Extended Validation (EV): This kind of certificate offers the best level of security and requires you to provide legal checks to confirm your identity. Any website that has an EV certificate will have its URL displayed in a green address bar which shows the highest level of security.
Wildcard: This certificate is used to secure a domain and its subdomains all together with one certificate only.
How to Implement HTTPS
As mentioned before, since 2018, implementing HTTPS has become a necessity. The transition from HTTP to HTTPS is the most important step in protecting user data and increasing user trust. There are two popular methods for implementing HTTPS and the rest of this section will explore just them.
Traditional Approach
The approach that many websites have taken is buying a certificate from HTTPS providers. One of the reasons that so many website owners choose this method is that it has always worked in the past, making it the most convenient and guaranteed method.
External Providers
Some website owners decide to proxy their website traffic through external providers, which allow you to configure HTTPS easily from your dashboard. This method is considered to be the cheapest way to transition to HTTPS. A mention-worthy downside is that the external provider can still read the traffic because it’s not fully encrypted when going from the visitor to the server and back.
Conclusion
Using HTTPS for your website is one of the most effective ways to ensure website security. The HTTPS protocol relies on SSL/TLS protocols and guarantees data integrity. If you decide not to implement HTTPS, you will be exposing your website to content injection by ISPs and other security risks. You can implement HTTPS through external providers or through traditional methods such as getting your SSL/TLS certificate from providers such as ArvanCloud CDN in case you want the best loading speeds.
