Editing HTTPS (section)

==Overview==
{{Further|topic=|Transport Layer Security|||category=}}
[[File:Internet2.jpg|thumb|[[URL]] beginning with the HTTPS scheme and the [[World Wide Web|WWW]] domain name label]]

The [[Uniform Resource Identifier]] (URI) scheme ''HTTPS'' has identical usage syntax to the HTTP scheme. However, HTTPS signals the browser to use an added encryption layer of SSL/TLS to protect the traffic. SSL/TLS is especially suited for HTTP, since it can provide some protection even if only one side of the communication is [[authentication|authenticated]]. This is the case with HTTP transactions over the Internet, where typically only the [[Web server|server]] is authenticated (by the client examining the server's [[public key certificate|certificate]]).

HTTPS creates a secure channel over an insecure network. This ensures reasonable protection from [[eavesdropping|eavesdroppers]] and [[man-in-the-middle attack]]s, provided that adequate [[cipher suite]]s are used and that the server certificate is verified and trusted.

Because HTTPS piggybacks HTTP entirely on top of TLS, the entirety of the underlying HTTP protocol can be encrypted. This includes the request's [[URL]], query parameters, headers, and cookies (which often contain identifying information about the user). However, because website addresses and [[Port (computer networking)|port]] numbers are necessarily part of the underlying [[TCP/IP]] protocols, HTTPS cannot protect their disclosure. In practice this means that even on a correctly configured web server, eavesdroppers can infer the IP address and port number of the web server, and sometimes even the domain name (e.g. www.example.org, but not the rest of the URL) that a user is communicating with, along with the amount of data transferred and the duration of the communication, though not the content of the communication.<ref name=httpse/>

Web browsers know how to trust HTTPS websites based on [[Certificate authority|certificate authorities]] that come pre-installed in their software. Certificate authorities are in this way being trusted by web browser creators to provide valid certificates. Therefore, a user should trust an HTTPS connection to a website [[if and only if]] all of the following are true:

* The user trusts that their device, hosting the browser and the method to get the browser itself, is not compromised (i.e. there is no [[supply chain attack]]).
* The user trusts that the browser software correctly implements HTTPS with correctly pre-installed certificate authorities.
* The user trusts the certificate authority to vouch only for legitimate websites (i.e. the certificate authority is not compromised and there is no mis-issuance of certificates).
* The website provides a valid certificate, which means it was signed by a trusted authority.
* The certificate correctly identifies the website (e.g., when the browser visits "https://example.com", the received certificate is properly for "example.com" and not some other entity).
* The user trusts that the protocol's encryption layer (SSL/TLS) is sufficiently secure against eavesdroppers.

HTTPS is especially important over insecure networks and networks that may be subject to tampering.  Insecure networks, such as public [[Wi-Fi]] access points, allow anyone on the same local network to [[packet analyzer|packet-sniff]] and discover sensitive information not protected by HTTPS. Additionally, some free-to-use and paid [[wireless LAN|WLAN]] networks have been observed tampering with webpages by engaging in [[packet injection]] in order to serve their own ads on other websites. This practice can be exploited maliciously in many ways, such as by injecting [[malware]] onto webpages and stealing users' private information.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hotel Wifi JavaScript Injection |url=https://justinsomnia.org/2012/04/hotel-wifi-javascript-injection/ |date=3 April 2012 |work=JustInsomnia |access-date=20 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118154608/https://justinsomnia.org/2012/04/hotel-wifi-javascript-injection/ |archive-date=18 November 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

HTTPS is also important for connections over the [[Tor (network)|Tor network]], as malicious Tor nodes could otherwise damage or alter the contents passing through them in an insecure fashion and inject malware into the connection. This is one reason why the [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]] and [[the Tor Project]] started the development of [[HTTPS Everywhere]],<ref name=httpse/> which is included in Tor Browser.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en |title=What is Tor Browser? |author=The Tor Project, Inc. |work=TorProject.org |access-date=30 May 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130717222709/https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en |archive-date=17 July 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>

As more information is revealed about global [[mass surveillance]] and criminals stealing personal information, the use of HTTPS security on all websites is becoming increasingly important regardless of the type of Internet connection being used.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://open.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/embracing-https/ |title=Embracing HTTPS |work=The New York Times |date=13 November 2014 |access-date=20 October 2018 |last1=Konigsburg |first1=Eitan |last2=Pant |first2=Rajiv |last3=Kvochko |first3=Elena |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108190000/https://open.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/embracing-https/ |archive-date=8 January 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://freedom.press/news-advocacy/fifteen-months-after-the-nsa-revelations-why-arenat-more-news-organizations-using-https/ |title=Fifteen Months After the NSA Revelations, Why Aren't More News Organizations Using HTTPS? |publisher=Freedom of the Press Foundation |date=12 September 2014 |access-date=20 October 2018 |last=Gallagher |first=Kevin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810204919/https://freedom.press/news-advocacy/fifteen-months-after-the-nsa-revelations-why-arenat-more-news-organizations-using-https/ |archive-date=10 August 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Even though [[metadata]] about individual pages that a user visits might not be considered sensitive, when aggregated it can reveal a lot about the user and compromise the user's privacy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2014/08/https-as-ranking-signal.html |title=HTTPS as a ranking signal |date=6 August 2014 |publisher=Google Inc. |quote=You can make your site secure with HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) [...] |work=Google Webmaster Central Blog |access-date=20 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017052432/https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2014/08/https-as-ranking-signal.html |archive-date=17 October 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBhZ6S0PFCY |title=Google I/O 2014 - HTTPS Everywhere |publisher=Google Developers |date=26 June 2014 |access-date=20 October 2018 |last1=Grigorik |first1=Ilya |last2=Far |first2=Pierre |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120144918/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBhZ6S0PFCY |archive-date=20 November 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=deployhttpscorrectly/>

Deploying HTTPS also allows the use of [[HTTP/2]] and [[HTTP/3]] (and their predecessors [[SPDY]] and [[QUIC]]), which are new HTTP versions designed to reduce page load times, size, and latency.

It is recommended to use [[HTTP Strict Transport Security]] (HSTS) with HTTPS to protect users from man-in-the-middle attacks, especially [[Moxie Marlinspike#SSL stripping|SSL stripping]].<ref name=deployhttpscorrectly>{{cite web |title=How to Deploy HTTPS Correctly |url=https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere/deploying-https |access-date=20 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010233702/https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere/deploying-https |archive-date=10 October 2018 |url-status=live |date=15 November 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Strict-Transport-Security |title=HTTP Strict Transport Security |work=Mozilla Developer Network |access-date=20 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019171534/https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Strict-Transport-Security |archive-date=19 October 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

HTTPS should not be confused with the seldom-used [[Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol|Secure HTTP]] (S-HTTP) specified in RFC 2660.

===Usage in websites===
{{As of|2018|04}}, 33.2%<!-- percentages not show; calculated from 331889 sites stated--> of Alexa top 1,000,000 websites use HTTPS as default<ref>{{cite web |url=https://statoperator.com/research/https-usage-statistics-on-top-websites/ |title=HTTPS usage statistics on top 1M websites |website=StatOperator.com |access-date=20 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209055130/https://statoperator.com/research/https-usage-statistics-on-top-websites/ |archive-date=9 February 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> and 70%<!-- 78.68% for the US only--> of page loads (measured by Firefox Telemetry) use HTTPS.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://letsencrypt.org/stats/ |title=Let's Encrypt Stats |website=LetsEncrypt.org |access-date=20 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019221028/https://letsencrypt.org/stats/ |archive-date=19 October 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> {{As of|2022|12}}, 58.4% of the Internet's 135,422 most popular websites have a secure implementation of HTTPS,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ssllabs.com/ssl-pulse/ |title=Qualys SSL Labs - SSL Pulse |website=www.ssllabs.com |date=4 December 2022 |access-date=7 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207004823/https://www.ssllabs.com/ssl-pulse/ |archive-date=7 December 2022 |url-status=live }}.</ref> However, despite [[TLS 1.3]]'s release in 2018, adoption has been slow, with many still remaining on the older TLS 1.2 protocol.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-04-06 |title=TLS 1.3: Slow adoption of stronger web encryption is empowering the bad guys |url=https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2020/04/06/tls-1-3-adoption/ |access-date=2022-05-23 |website=Help Net Security |language=en-US |archive-date=24 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524002257/https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2020/04/06/tls-1-3-adoption/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Browser integration===

Most [[Web browser|browsers]] display a warning if they receive an invalid certificate. Older browsers, when connecting to a site with an invalid certificate, would present the user with a [[dialog box]] asking whether they wanted to continue. Newer browsers display a warning across the entire window. Newer browsers also prominently display the site's security information in the [[address bar]]. [[Extended validation certificate]]s show the legal entity on the certificate information. Most browsers also display a warning to the user when visiting a site that contains a mixture of encrypted and unencrypted content. Additionally, many [[Content-control software|web filters]] return a security warning when visiting prohibited websites.
{{gallery
|title=Comparison between different kinds of [[Transport Layer Security|SSL/TLS]] certificates<br><small>(Using [[Firefox]] as an example)</small>
|height=170
|width=300
|align=center
|File:Extended Validation on Firefox 133 screenshot.webp|Many web browsers, including Firefox (shown here), use the [[address bar]] to tell the user that their connection is secure, an [[Extended Validation Certificate]] should identify the legal entity for the certificate.
|File:HTTPS on Firefox 133 screenshot.webp|When accessing a site only with a common certificate, on the address bar of [[Firefox]] and other [[Web browser|browser]]s, a "lock" sign appears.
|File:Self-signed certificate warning on Firefox 133 screenshot.webp|Most web browsers alert the user when visiting sites that have invalid security certificates.
}}

The [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]], opining that "In an ideal world, every web request could be defaulted to HTTPS", has provided an add-on called HTTPS Everywhere for [[Mozilla Firefox]], [[Google Chrome]], [[Chromium (web browser)|Chromium]], and [[Android (operating system)|Android]], which enables HTTPS by default for hundreds of frequently used websites.<ref>{{cite web |first=Peter |last=Eckersley |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/06/encrypt-web-https-everywhere-firefox-extension |title=Encrypt the Web with the HTTPS Everywhere Firefox Extension |work=EFF blog |date=17 June 2010 |access-date=20 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181125102636/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/06/encrypt-web-https-everywhere-firefox-extension |archive-date=25 November 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere |title=HTTPS Everywhere. |work=EFF projects |access-date=20 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605022218/https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere |archive-date=5 June 2011 |url-status=live |date=7 October 2011 }}</ref>

Forcing a web browser to load only HTTPS content has been supported in Firefox starting in version 83.<ref>{{Cite web|title=HTTPS-Only Mode in Firefox|url=https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/https-only-prefs|url-status=live|access-date=12 November 2021|archive-date=12 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112222245/https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/https-only-prefs}}</ref> Starting in version 94, Google Chrome is able to "always use secure connections" if toggled in the browser's settings.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manage Chrome safety and security - Android - Google Chrome Help |url=https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/10468685?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform=Android |access-date=2022-03-07 |website=support.google.com |archive-date=7 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307190622/https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/10468685?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform=Android |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-07-19 |title=Hands on Chrome's HTTPS-First Mode |url=https://techdows.com/2021/07/hands-on-chromes-https-first-mode.html |access-date=2022-03-07 |website=Techdows |language=en-US |archive-date=7 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307190617/https://techdows.com/2021/07/hands-on-chromes-https-first-mode.html |url-status=live |author1=Venkat }}</ref>