DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HTTP AND HTTPS WEBSITE

Introduction – Many websites all over the internet are secured while some of the websites are not. The security in every website is for the purpose of securing both the “server side” of a website and the “client side” of a website. The server side of a website includes the hosting company that hosts the files and the documents that the website contains.

The server side of a website is also called the back end of a website contains sensitive information such as “username, password, credit/debit cards etc.” and this is the main reason while it has to be secured from intruders.

Table of content

1. Introduction
2. What is the difference between http and https?
3. Importance of https over http
4. How to prevent bank frauds
5. How to detect a sub-domain website name
6. Conclusion

The client side of a website is also called the front end of a website and this includes the user interface that visitors of a website can see when they open the website. The front end of a website contains the visual parts of a website such as: images, text, links etc.

What is the difference between http and https?

The main difference between http:// and https:// is all about keeping you secure.

HTTP stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. The “S” in https:// stands for "Secure". If you visit a Website or web page, and look at the address in the web browser, it is likely begin with the following: http://. This means that the website is talking to your browser using the regular unsecured language.

In other words, it is possible for someone to "eavesdrop" on your computer's conversation with the Website. If you fill out a form on the website, someone might see the information you send to that site.

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This is why you should never enter your credit card number in an Http website! But if the web address begins with https://, it means your computer is talking to the website in a secure code that no one can eavesdrop on.

Websites that begins with http:// is not secured and every information that passed through the website is not secured. Intruders can eavesdrop to every information that is being submitted through the website.

If you are filling out forms in http:// websites, hackers are seeing all the information that you filled such as: username, password and credit/debit cards as plain text and numbers while the data is being submitted to their server. This gives hackers and fraudsters room to hack into someone’s data.

Many Facebook accounts has been hacked through this way. Hackers will clone a web page that looks exactly like Facebook login page and they will ask you that “you must login” to access this information. If you are careful enough to check the web address, you will find out that the web page does not contain facebook.com in the domain name and the web page does not have https:// in the address.

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Importance of https over http

If a website ever asks you to enter your Credit/Debit card Information, you should automatically look to see if the web address begins with https://. If it doesn't, you should NEVER enter sensitive Information such as a credit/debit card number in such websites.

While checking the name of any website, first look for the domain extension (.com or .org, .co, .in, .net, .edu, etc.). The name just before this is the domain name of the website. For example http://ebay.vals-chat.com, the word before .com is "vals-chat" (and NOT "eBay"). So, this webpage does not belong to ebay.com but belongs to "vals-chat.com", which we all haven't heard of before.

For instance let me describe with another example http://facebook.online-hub.com, the word before the .com is “online-hub” and not (Facebook). This webpage does not belong to Facebook.com rather it belongs to “online-hub.com”, which also we have not heard of before.

How to prevent bank frauds

Before your ebanking logins, make sure that the name just before ".com" is the name of your bank. "Sub-domain.Ecobank.com" belongs to Ecobank; but, Ecobank.privatedomain.com belongs to "privatedomain” and not Ecobank banking system. The same applies to other banks worldwide.

When using banks mobile applications, make sure that you download the apps from an authorized website – for Android users, make sure you are downloading from Google Play store and for Apple users make sure you download from Apple store.

Online fraudsters sometimes hack bank apps and upload it on an unknown websites, when you download and install the app, your details will be sending to their server and not the bank secured server.

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How to detect a sub-domain website name

Sub-domain names are websites that contain the main website domain name at the end of the website name. Examples of sub-domain website names are: blog.facebook.com, news.shopify.com, beginners.wordpress.com etc. Every genuine sub-domain name must contain sub or pre name just before the original domain name.

Sub-domain names are created by the domain owners for a reason. And this is to make the website simpler based on the content that it contains. Imagine when all the sub-domain of websites are deleted and combined in a single webpage! The webpage will be so bulky for users to find what they are looking for at that particular time.

Conclusion

When surfing the internet, always take note of website URL that starts with “http:// and https://”

to prevent falling into the hands of online fraudsters.

I know you've hopefully learned something new, please share to your social media handles to educate others. Stay safe as more cyber criminals and scammers (Yahoo boys) are on the loose these days!

Thank you for reading

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HTTP AND HTTPS WEBSITE