HTPS or HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure stands for a secure data transfer protocol, which supports TLS / SSL encryption technology and as a result is more secure than HTTP.
The standard HTTP protocol transmits data in the open space, so it’s unsecured and can be accessed by scammers anytime and anywhere. As a result, they can “intrude” into the data transmission by changing or intercepting it. HTTPS uses only secure channels created for data transmission.
Let’s see how it works in practice, assuming that a user wants to go to the (sitename.com), which is secured by SSL encryption technology.
- A user sends a request to a site
- The site responds with an SSL-certificate’s copy
- The browser verifies the authenticity of the certificate sent by checking it via the certification authority that issued it
- If the certificate is not faked, the site and the browser secretly agree on a secret symmetric key
Using this key, a user’s browser and the (sitename.com) establish a secure HTTPS connection. The key encrypts the data so that criminals cannot access any passwords, personal data, or bank information. Furthermore, the new key generates for each new connection and it cannot be accessed or guessed manually, as the site and browser generate the key securely, and usually, it is a set of more than 100 various letters and numbers.