Why HTTP is not secure?

HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. Protocol is a set of rules that tells what is the correct procedure to be followed in normal situations while sharing data in networking. HTTP is a type of standard language or one kind of application protocol for transferring hypermedia documents such as HTML pages. It allows different users to communicate through data on the world wide web(WWW).

HTTP is not secure as it doesn’t encrypt the data that is transmitted between clients(users) to servers. For example, if you are visiting any site and somewhere it asks for your email address and other credentials, you provided, then there are chances that your data may be misused or stolen to perform harmful tasks that can be a serious concern to your data and security.

On the other hand, HTTPS is secure to use and share data. You can see the locker symbol at the start of the URL having https included such as the Youtube URL.

Why is HTTP not secure?

HTTP doesn’t contain SSL which is a Secure Socket Layer the sensitive data transferred like email and addresses are not encrypted. This leads to threats to our sensitive data. SSL gives security to transfer data between the web browser and server by encrypting the link. It has both client and server authentication. SSL provides certificates to the Sites and domains that are genuine. It is a type of document given to the website which is proof that the site is authenticated and enables the encrypted connection between the user and server.

Http helps in getting the user request and server response to the user for the requested data. It is the TCP/IP protocol responsible for downloading data from the world wide web. Media includes images, audio, video, query, etc.

Types of functions of http

There are many functions available in HTTP that help in requesting the server

Various entities lie between the server and the client for establishing a connection between them. These entities are called proxies. They do many processes and operations. There certain computers, routers, and modems are present between server and client computers. Http is present in the application layer of the OSI model in networking.

Let’s now know what our clients and servers?

Client or User

• We can call any user like a person, business partner, or organization that is making any request to the server, as a client. Where the request will be initiated from. For instance, a browser making a request is a client.

• The web browser will collect the data from different resources to present on the Webpage. These web pages show hypertext and other media which can contain some more webpages. Web browsers make these requests into http requests and then again, these HTTP requests will be presented as a response to the user with resources and documents.

Server or Web Server

• The web server is the computer where the request is going to come. The web server is responsible to get the request from the user and collect data and resources accordingly, then also presenting the data response to the client or our user. The web browser will collect the data from different resources to present on the webpage to the client.

• It can be a single machine or a collection of servers sharing their load. Their four main functions are to collect, process, and deliver data (web pages) on the request to the user. There is main four leading web servers such as Apache, Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS), Nginx, Sun java system web server, etc.

HTTP vs HTTPS

HTTP has encryption enabled and authentication of the website or domain has already been done. It encrypts the normal https request and responses, so it is more secure to share your sensitive to a third party without worrying about the data being misused or stolen.

It is not necessary to always choose HTTPS over HTTP, HTTP can be helpful if you are not sharing your data or any content. For example, if you want only some photos of any celebrity, actors, or animals, or any content that is just read for information, HTTP works faster. While sharing your data in a bank or adding your credit card or net banking details, always ensure that the site you are using is authenticated, secured, and genuine.

Conclusion

HTTP helps get the result faster than HTTPS. There are certain sites available that fulfill those needs. But it is necessary to use a secure site for our safety. Any attacker can make any website that harms your data and this can also lead to financial loss. So, it is advised to use HTTPS-secured sites over HTTP when sharing sensitive data and information.