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Briefing
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- Rise of Encrypted Websites – Average volume of encrypted internet traffic has surpassed average volume of unencrypted traffic, with half of websites now using secure HTTPS web protocol instead of HTTP
- Free Certificates – Let’s Encrypt, service provided by Internet Security Research Group (ISRG), makes transfer to HTTPS easier for smaller sites by making Transport Layer Security (TLS) certificates or cryptographic protocols that secure communications in computer network free, with cloud services companies Amazon and CloudFlare following suit
- Secure Internet Viewing – Prevents Internet service providers, government and hackers from seeing information being viewed or posted on web, while making security breaches harder for repressive governments and hackers
- Big Websites Migrate to HTTPS – Major sites like Facebook, Google, Wikipedia have switched to HTTPs with Google even announcing in December 2015 that its search engine would prioritize sites that use HTTPS over HTTP
- Limitations of HTTPS – Include vulnerability in underlying software, risk of certificate authorities (e.g. Let's Encrypt,Verisign) being hacked, and proliferation of fraudulent websites that mimic legitimate sites acquiring certificates
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