Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. ~Steve Jobs
Changes are a coming! Starting approximately July 22, Google will release a new version of it’s popular Chrome web browser, affectionately named Chrome 68. (Good thing Google can’t give birth to real babies! I’d hate to see them named Boy 1 and Boy 2. But I digress.)
The new release is going to mark a lot of web sites as “Not Secure”. Currently there are two types of web sites, HTTP and HTTPS. And just in case you are curious, HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol. HTTPS stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure.
In English, HTTP means any data being communicated between your computer and the website server is transmitted in plain text. If someone intercepted the communication, they would easily be able to see the information you are viewing and sending. This becomes a huge problem when the data you are transferring contains credit card numbers, passwords, private information.
HTTPS corrects this problem. The Secure transfer uses something called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt and transfer the data, rendering it nearly impossible for spying eyes to read. HTTPS has been a requirement for years on any site that collects credit card data. Google Chrome is already noting HTTP sites that collect data via user forms as “Not Secure”, but starting later this month, they are going to mark all HTTP sites as insecure, regardless of what data is on the site.
What does this mean to you? First, if you are a Chrome fan, you will start to see more “Not Secure” messages popping up as you surf the web. You will also notice faster response from the web. I was delighted to learn that encrypted traffic displays approximately 90% faster than unencrypted traffic. You can test this yourself at: https://www.httpvshttps.com/.
Not a Chrome user? You can expect other browsers to follow suit.
Second, if you have a web site for your business, you will want to secure it. This is done by purchasing an SSL certificate and then working through the steps to install it on your web site. If you would like assistance with the process, please give me a call. I’ve done a few, and have access to affordable SSL’s. You might believe this is a big hassle. You would be right. It is a hassle, but if your web traffic is important to you, I suggest you do it anyway. I was surprised to learn that roughly 60% of all internet traffic is coming through Chrome. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers). Displaying a big red warning sign to 60% of potential customers might not be the best decision. I’m here to help if you need me.
Keeping Your Data Safe!
~Janet
Because it made me laugh:
