Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure: the encrypted version of HTTP, the protocol browsers use to load web pages.
HTTP defines how browsers and servers exchange web pages, images, and data. HTTPS wraps that exchange in TLS encryption, so anyone intercepting the traffic, such as on public Wi-Fi, cannot read or tamper with it. The padlock icon in a browser's address bar indicates an HTTPS connection.
HTTPS relies on digital certificates issued by trusted certificate authorities to prove a website's identity. Free services such as Let's Encrypt have made certificates easy to obtain, and HTTPS is now standard across most of the web. Browsers label plain HTTP pages as not secure, and search engines favor HTTPS sites. Note that HTTPS protects data in transit; it does not guarantee that a website itself is trustworthy.
The internet's directory service that translates human-friendly domain names into the numeric IP addresses computers use.
EncryptionThe process of converting readable data into scrambled ciphertext that only someone with the correct key can decode.
Man-in-the-Middle AttackAn attack in which someone secretly intercepts communication between two parties, letting them read or alter the data being exchanged.
Transport Layer SecurityThe cryptographic protocol that encrypts and authenticates data sent over networks, securing HTTPS, email, and many other services.
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