HTTPS

HTTPS stands for hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) over secure socket layer (SSL). HTTPS is very similar to HTTP with the main distinction being an additional layer of encryption and authentication. Whenever you do online purchasing that requires you to provide sensitive personal information, such as your credit card number, make sure the Web page URL begins with https://, instead of http://, to ensure this personal information is transferred securely.

Secure online shopping does not stop at checking for HTTPS in the URL. Equally important, make sure you trust the source who is selling an item to you. HTTPS ensures the transfer of information only, and it does not guarantee the seller, who receives your personal information, is trustworthy.

HTTPS is essentially a combination of the regular HTTP interaction with an encrypted SSL that ensures proper encryption and protects the user from various vulnerabilities of HTTP. The connection between your Web browser and the Web server is secure and encrypted, preventing data theft via eavesdropping.

Trustworthy e-commerce sites such as eBay and Amazon use HTTPS for online transactions to ensure that the communication between your Web browser and their Web site server is encrypted. Therefore, an eavesdropper should not be able to interpret the confidential information while the data is in transit. HTTPS does not ensure that your personal and credit card information are absolutely safe under every circumstance. An attack on a Web site server may give access to data such as credit card numbers and other personal information if they are stored in unencrypted form.