In today’s world of digitization, we all browse hundreds of websites daily for shopping, entertainment, information & for lots of other things; the internet helps us make our life easier. Here in this article we are going to discuss about http full form, difference between http and https and which is more secure between them.
Some of you might notice that the URL of all websites are not the same, few of them open with HTTP (not secure) & few with HTTPS (secured).
Now the question arises, what is HTTP? & what is HTTPS?
What is HTTP? HTTP Full Form?
HTTP full form OR stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol; it is the internet protocol especially developed for data communication; HTTP is the heart of the World Wide Web.
Talking about it, this application layer protocol developed inside the framework of the Internet Protocol Suite, it allows the web browser to help users to exchange information over the internet.
When you serve a website with HTTP only, then the data transfer between your browser and server will be in plain text, it is not secure and encrypted.
The sites with HTTP are not secure to enter sensitive information.
What is HTTPS?
HTTPS is the standard version of HTTPS; it stands for Hypertext transfer protocol secure. In it, all the data transferred between browser & web servers is entirely encrypted.
All the shopping & banking websites are HTTPS secure because users need to enter their personal details like Login ID, Password, Credit & Debit card numbers over there to process their request.
Currently, HTTPS is a must-have thing for all websites. Even Google also prefers a secure site for ranking than an unsecured one.
The unsecured websites are differently marked in browsers when you see a green lock icon at the beginning of the URL; then, the site is secured with HTTPS protocol.
How is HTTPS different from HTTP?
HTTP & HTTPS are not a separate protocol; HTTPS is just an updated version on HTTP; it uses TLS/SSL encryption over the HTTP protocol in order to offer you more security.
In simple, when you connect with the website with the only HTTP, then all the data will be transferred between the computer and the server in the plain text format, which is not secure. If any hacker sniffs the packets before connecting to the services, then he will get all your information in text format, which can be easily misused.
Rather than that, if the website is HTTPS secured, then the data transfer is fully encrypted; this process is done with the help of an SSL certificate installed on the host of particular sites.
While connecting with a secured website, all your data will go through an SSL/TLS handshake, which is a series of back-and-forth communications used to establish a secure connection.
Differences between HTTP and HTTPS
- HTTP works with the application layer & HTTPS work with the transport layer.
- For HTTPS, you have to install SSL certificates on the website.
- In HTTP, the data transfer is open, it can be hacked, but in HTTPS, the data transfer is entirely encrypted.
- The main difference is between URL is, an HTTP URL begins with “http://” & in HTTPS URL starts with “https//”
- For security, HTTPS works with port 443, but HTTP uses port number 80 for communication.
- The browser will show the website as insecure in HTTP & secured in HTTPS.
Final Words
HTTP & HTTPS both are the transfer protocol; we hope now you understand what is HTTP?, what is HTTPS? & how both protocols are different from each order.
We highly recommend you check the website is https secure or not before entering any type of sensitive information over there, especially on shopping websites & paying anywhere.
Do not enter your credit or debit card information on the website with HTTP only.
We hope this article on HTTP & HTTP is helpful for you if the article is helpful for you in any manner then do share it on social media, stay connected with us for future updates.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. Does Google prefer HTTPS secured websites in terms of ranking?
Yes, Google always preferred website secure HTTPS in the ranking, because security is the top priority for them.
Even when someone browses the HTTP website, Google will notify them that they are visiting an unsecured website.
2. What is SSL?
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer; it is a deployed cryptographic protocol that offers you security; when you install SSL on your web server, your website will become HTTPS secured.
SSL is available for free; cloudflare.com provides you with free SSL certified for a lifetime.