Google and other major browser companies have been encouraging website owners to protect websites with Secure Mode for the past few years. They are taking steps to reward sites that have implemented the recommendations. But in the future, they plan to warn end-users of non-secure sites with a red icon or other message.
What is “Secure Mode”?
For the purposes of this blog post, “Secure Mode” refers to a series of web encryption techniques. Here are a few acronym definitions for clarification:
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a protocol that enables secure communications over the Internet (not just the web — it may include FTP and other Internet technologies).
Transport Layer Security (TLS) is the successor to SSL. All major modern browsers now support TLS v1.2, and previous versions are being retired due to potential vulnerabilities.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is the web-specific implementation of SSL/TLS. It provides encrypted communication over the web.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the insecure version of HTTPS.
Depending on context, these terms are sometimes used almost interchangeably.
Why is Secure Mode important?
Even if you don’t handle top-secret information on your site, it is recommended to run in Secure Mode whenever possible.
The benefits of running in Secure Mode are numerous:
It protects your website from intruderswho want to intercept the communication between your website and the user’s browser. This may include malicious hackers, but also legitimate services who may inject ads or change the website for a certain purpose.
Running in Secure Mode protects the traffic from the web server to the end user, ensuring thatthird-parties (such as hackers or even intrusive governments) cannot spy on the communications.
Several major web browsers, such as Google Chrome,will begin warning end users that a site is not secure.This could lead to loss of pageviews if users get spooked and leave the site.
Google has announced they will begin toreward secure sites with a bump in SEO. The change so far has been subtle, but it is likely to increase over time.
Running in Secure Mode results in safer, easier to find sites that users feel comfortable using.
