“S” Means “Strong” Find Out — (HTTPS)

Extra “s” means your connection to that website is secure and encrypted; any data you enter is safely shared with that website. The technology that powers that little “s” is called SSL, which stands for “Secure Sockets Layer.”

As a consumer, you always want to see https:// when visiting any site you trust with your essential information. As a marketer, you’ll want to make sure you have an SSL or two for your audience.

What is an SSL certificate?

SSL certificates are small data files that cryptographically establish an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browser remain private.

“STRONG” if its “SECURE”:

When you land on a page with a form to fill in and submit, the information you enter can be intercepted by a hacker on an unsecured website.

This information could be anything from details on a bank transaction to an email enter to register for an offer. In hacker lingo, this “interception” is often referred to as a “man-in-the-middle attack.”

The most common attacks of hackers are:

A hacker places a small, undetected listening program on the server hosting a website. That program waits in the background until a visitor starts typing information on the website, and it will activate to start capturing the information and then send it back to the hacker.

But when you visit a website that’s encrypted with SSL, your browser will form a connection with the webserver, look at the SSL certificate, then bind your browser and the server. This binding connection is secure to ensure no one besides you and the website can see or access what you type.

This connection happens instantly, and in fact, some suggest it’s faster than connecting to an unsecured website. You simply have to visit a website with SSL, and voila — your connection will automatically be secured.