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Secure communication online

Communication carried out in online space can be dangerous. If it is not secured properly, or not secured at all, an unwanted 3rd party can listen in at any time, and it can gather otherwise sensitive information. To avoid this, most of the websites use a form of secure communication, which is mainly an HTTPS protocol. Secure communication includes methods by which people can share information with certainty that it will not get to unwanted parties.

The importance of HTTPS

Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is the secure version of HTTP, which is the protocol used in transferring data between browsers and connected websites.

HTTPS is one of the key features used in securing online communication. With the help of it, we can transfer data, like our passwords, or credit card details safely, meaning that no one, besides the user and the web page is able to read the data. When computers and websites use HTTPS, they agree on an encryption between them and send the messages using those encrypted methods, so that no one in-between can read them.

HTTPS pages usually use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) or TLS (Transport Layer Security) encryptions. Both protocols use asymmetric Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) system. An asymmetric system uses two keys to encrypt communication: a public and a private one. The information secured with the public key can only be decrypted by the private one and vice versa. The private key should be protected and should only be accessible by the owner, which is the web server that is running the website. The public key can be shared with anyone who wishes to decrypt the information protected by the private key.

Some browsers are building up HTTPS connection to each website by default when it is possible. The only thing the user sees from this is a green padlock next to the URL and/or the appearance of https instead of HTTP before the URL.

How does an HTTPS certificate work?

When requesting HTTPS connection, the webpage will send its SSL certificate to the browser. This contains the public key, that is needed to start the secure communication. After sharing this information, the unique secure connection between the user and the website is all set up.

The importance of this technology is acknowledged by Google, Facebook and other entities as well. Google search engines give web pages a better ranking when they are using secure communication methods.

When the user navigates to a website that asks for a password or any other secure information it is crucial to check whether the connection is secured or not. When there is no securing included anyone can read the data that is sent to the webpage, meaning that hackers can easily get the user’s login or other sensitive information.

 

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