When you enter a web page, its address is headed by the acronym HTTP or HTTPS. It is important to know that they are protocols that allow web users to transfer information.
And why is it important to know this? Because depending on the type of protocol, we will know if the data that is traveling through the network will be protected or not, since behind the world of the www there are malicious users (hackers) who are waiting to take your information , therefore, we will define the protocols in order to know a little more how our data should travel.
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol )
First of all we have HTTP or Hypertext Transfer Protocol , which is one of the 3 technologies developed in 1999 by Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau to create the WWW, it was designed as a network protocol oriented to customer functioning- server, that is, a computer that is part of a network (client) makes a request to the computer where the information (server) is hosted and it responds with the requested information; in the same way that when we enter a browser and write the web address of a website and press ENTER, the server will respond with access to the website.
HTTPS (Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
However, over time it was found that the HTTP protocol was vulnerable to certain web pages where users shared sensitive data (credit card information, user and password among others), since certain malicious users (hackers) could intercept the information and copy it and then commit electronic crimes.
Consequently, HTTPS or Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol is born , that is, the client’s web browser transfers the information to the serverthrough the network in an encrypted manner. Encryption is done through cryptography, which is a technique that allows you to maintain the confidentiality, security and integrity of the data that is being transferred. By encrypting the data only the correct destination is the one that can decrypt it.
It should be noted that SSL certificates are used during a secure connection to ensure that communication is with who it should be, avoiding that in the middle there is an imposter that interprets the communication.
We already knew the meaning of each protocol, but it is important to know how they differ, and in this way we will realize the way in which your information is traveling through the Internet.
| HTTP | HTTPS |
| URL starts with “http: //” | URL starts with “https: //” |
| Communication Port: 80 | Communication Port: 443 |
| Communication does not guarantee privacy, since the data is not encrypted | Communication is secure, because it handles data encryption |
| It does not require certificates | Requires a certificate |
In short, to ensure your connection to a website, the site must have an SSL Certificate.