HTTP vs HTTPS: What Makes HTTPS Better?

While HTTP and HTTPS look similar to each other, the extra S puts a difference between them. And as many people know that HTTPS is safer and more secure than HTTP, we recommend you to shift from HTTP to HTTPS for your new website. But don’t just take our word for it. You can see for yourself that HTTPS is way better than HTTP in terms of performance and security. That’s why we are going to show the end-to-end comparison chart between HTTPS and HTTP to help you decide why HTTPS is better than HTTP alone.

What is HTTP?

HTTP refers to Hypertext Transfer Protocol that you can find in the URL of your website or the website that you are visiting. This protocol is used to create communications between two systems, such as the web server and the browser. For example, when you visit a website, your browser sends an HTTP request to the web server so that the requested web page is shown on your browser. In short, the HTTP protocol helps in data transformation from the server to the browser. If you have ever heard about the SSL protocol, then you might also know what TCP is. HTTP is a protocol that works just above the TCP layer to create an extra security standard when the browser and web server are communicating with each other. There is no state in the HTTP protocol, and their data transactions are conducted individually without any connection with the previous transactions. For example, if you complete a data transaction between the server and the client, then the connection will be lost until you open a new web page from your browser, and your browser will request the web server for an HTTP connection.

This is what an HTTP connection is, but to know more about it, you will have to keep reading.

How Does HTTP Work?

HTTP is a request-response protocol that allows the user to communicate with resources on the Internet like HTML files by sending hypertext messages between the servers and the browsers. There is a transmission control protocol or TCP connection within the HTTP client that allows communication between the server and the client. Some request methods within HTTP allow the connection to perform different tasks. The most common methods are GET and HEAD that almost all HTTP servers utilize. But not every HTTP server supports these request methods. Let us have a look at the way how the HTTP works on a browser:

• The GET method sends a request for a specific resource.
• The HEAD requests for that resource without any extra content.
• The POST method adds messages, specific data, and content to a new page that exist under a specific web resource.
• Now there is a PUT method that modifies the web resource or creates a new URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) if required.
• There is a DELETE method that deletes a specified resource.
• TRACE allows the users to see any changes or modifications that were constructed to a web resource.
• The OPTIONS allow you to see which HTTP forms are unrestricted for a specific URL.
• CONNECT transforms the request related to a translucent TCP/IP tunnel.
• PATCH somewhat changes a web resource

The HTTP protocol works these ways to create an interactive and text-based web browser background. The HTTP protocol is one of the major causes for using the Internet. But HTTP is not secure because it is vulnerable to cross-site scripting and HTTP request smuggling. That is why HTTPS is recommended for your website or any online business. But despite all this, HTTP still has some advantages and limitations that lead you to use and not use HTTPS instead.

Advantages of HTTP

• HTTP is usable with other protocols on the Internet or the network.
• HTTP pages are kept on machines or users’ computers as well as in-browser catches so that the browser can easily access them whenever they want.
• HTTP is platform-independent: that means it allows HTTP porting on different platforms.
• HTTP does not require any runtime support.
• HTTP can be used over firewalls and in global applications.
• HTTP is not connection-oriented, which means it is not required to create and maintain session states and information.

Disadvantages of HTTP

• HTTP is not secure, and any attacker or third party that interrupts the digital transmission can see the transmitted data easily.
• Content of the data that goes through the HTTP connection can be easily altered. This means if an attacker tries to change the data integrity, they can easily do so. There are no encryption methods used in HTTP.
• If any unauthorized person can thwart the HTTP request, they can get a hand on the username and password as well.

What is HTTPS?

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure is another form of HTTP with a TLS or SSL certificate. The S refers to SSL or TLS that makes the HTTP connection secured. HTTPS utilizes the SSL protocol to encrypt the HTTP submissions and answers. And since HTTP requests consist of plain text that an attacker could easily read, HTTPS convert the texts into a series of texts with random characters that attackers could not read. TLS helps HTTP to create a strong connection using public and private keys. TLS has these keys that are shared through client devices and via the SSL certificate. SSL certificates are cryptography certificates signed by Certificate Authority or CA, and every browser has some certificate authorities that they trust. If the certificate is signed by a CA that is listed on the browser, then when the user is accessing the URL from that browser, it will show a green padlock sign on the address bar. This sign indicates that the website is safe and trusted to explore.

How Does HTTPS Work?

When the browser creates a connection with the server, the computers will need a verified identity, and the public and private keys shared through the TLS or SSL certificate are used in this session. That’s why public and private keys of TLS are also called session keys that encrypt the communication between the server and the client. And when a third party or an attacker intercepts the communication, they will see a random string of characters and not text messages that they can easily read. Besides encrypting the communication, HTTPS also certifies the squads that are transmitting information with each other. For example, authentication will verify the user who is using the machine if he is a real person or a bot.

HTTP does not verify the identity of the user, that’s why it is considered to be less secure than HTTPS.

What are the Kinds of SSL Certificates Used in HTTPS?

Various types of SSL certificates are used in HTTPS, and here we are going to talk about them briefly.

1. Domain Validation

Domain validation will verify if the person or the owner of the certificate is also the owner of the domain name. Domain validation takes up to a few hours to verify the domain name.

2. Organization Validation

CA or the certification authority will validate the domain ownership and also the identity of the owner. Here the owner will have to provide their ID to prove that they are who they claim to be.

3. Extended Validation

Extended validation is an advanced level of validation where ownership of the domain, identity of the owner, and the registration proof of the organization are validated at once.

Still, with extra encryption for HTTP, HTTPS does have some advantages and limitations that you want to consider.

Advantages

• The websites that run HTTPS connections will redirect every time the user types HTTP in the URL. That means the connection will always be secure.
• HTTPS creates secure e-Commerce transactions and credibility for your online business. If the online store has an HTTPS connection, it is deemed to be trustworthy when it comes to online banking transactions.
• The SSL technology used in HTTPS creates credibility and builds trust among the users.
• In HTTPS, independent authorities confirm the originality of the certificate owner so that the SSL certificate remains authenticated and unique with the updated information of the certificate owner.

Disadvantages

• Even though HTTPS is more secure than HTTP, it does not help with stealing private data from the caches that the web browsers store.
• SSL cannot clear the texts from the browser memory, and it will only encrypt the data when it is passing between the web server and the client.
• HTTPS connections can worsen the computational overhead and network overhead of the business.

If you notice more closely, you will find that HTTP has more disadvantages than HTTPS. This is obvious as HTTPS is more secure than HTTP. Now let’s find out the key differences between the two so that you can make your mind about what connection to use for your online business.

Key Differences Between HTTP and HTTPS

Here are the main differences between HTTP and HTTPS connections:

• HTTP is a hypertext transfer protocol, while HTTPS is a hypertext transfer protocol secure.
• HTTP is less secure because the data can be accessible to hackers since it is available in readymade text. HTTPS makes the data a string of characters that the attackers cannot read. Hence, it improves the security of the websites or the e-Commerce stores.
• HTTP uses port 80 by default, and HTTPS employs port 443 by default.
• HTTP URL uses http:// while HTTPS URL uses https://
• HTTP is good for websites that only provide information, such as blogs. Websites that collect private information of the users, like their credit card or bank details, need to use the HTTPS protocol for secure online data transmission.
• HTTP does not disorganize the data when it is transacting through the internet that’s why the data is typically available to hackers. But HTTPS disorganizes the data before the transmission, so when the data is being received at the end, it will not make sense to the hackers.
• HTTP protocol operates at TCP/IP level, but HTTPS does not include any individual protocol, and it is being operated with encrypted SSL protocol.
• HTTP websites don’t need SSL certificates, but HTTPS websites demand an SSL certificate.
• HTTP websites don’t have any encryption for data, but HTTPS websites do have data encryptions.
• HTTP does not help in improving search engine rankings, but HTTPS does.
• The HTTP connection is fast while HTTPS is slower than HTTP.
• While HTTP is vulnerable to hackers, HTTPS is secure and encrypts the data before it is accessed on the network.

Conclusion

Since HTTPS is safer than HTTP, it is recommended that you switch to HTTPS if your website is using HTTP. And to do that, you will first have to understand if you require a wildcard certificate or multi-domains. You can use the 2048-bit key certificates to get the certificate signing requests on your server, and you will also have to maintain an SSL certificate. You can check out our other articles to find out how to migrate your HTTP website to HTTPS for SEO purposes. But if you bypass the thought that your website doesn’t need an HTTP connection, then you are wrong. If you are running just an informational blog where the users don’t have to do any online transactions, then HTTP might be enough for you. But the newcomer E-commerce websites or blogs that facilitate online payment transactions need to have a secure HTTPS connection. This will improve your SEO, and also help you to keep your users around for a long time.