HTTP and HTTPS are standard protocols that govern how data is transmitted on the World Wide Web (WWW). When you browse the internet, you are actually exchanging data with a web server.
The process of sending data between the web browser and the web server is governed by the HTTP or HTTPS protocol. The two are like siblings with many similarities because HTTPS itself is actually a development of HTTP.
In this article, we will discuss a complete explanation of HTTP and HTTPS starting from their understanding, differences, to their advantages and disadvantages
What are HTTP and HTTPS?
HTTP stands for: Hypertext Transfer Protocol.
HTTPS stands for: Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure.
Although only one word apart, the difference between the two is quite significant. There are many technical details that make HTTPS relatively better than HTTP, especially in terms of security.
What is HTTP?
HTTP is the work of Tim Berners Lee, founder of the WWW and chairman of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) . The W3C's primary mission is to develop the web to its full potential. This mission is realized by building long-term growth-oriented web protocols and guidelines.
The first HTTP documentation was HTTP/0.9 which was published in 1991. In this early version, HTTP only had one method, namely the GET method to request data from a specific source.
Since then, HTTP has continued to evolve and be strengthened with new features. HTTP today even supports error messages , examples like:
- 404 Not Found: content does not exist or has been moved.
- 502 Bad Gateway: the domain name points to the wrong IP or does not point to any IP.
What is HTTPS?
HTTPS is the result of HTTP improvements made by Netscape Communications in 1994. The initial goal of HTTPS development was for use in Netscape Navigator, Netscape's web browser product.
Initially, HTTPS used the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol which later evolved into Transport Layer Security (TLS) in May 2000.
What distinguishes HTTP and HTTPS the most is in terms of security. HTTP still sends data in plain text format (plain text), while HTTPS already uses encryption.
Simply put, data sent via HTTPS is ' locked ' in advance to prevent it from being stolen by others. Even if someone tries to steal it, that person will not be able to read its contents because it does not have the 'key'. This mechanism is called encryption .
Type of TLS/SSL Certificate Used HTTPS
To ensure the security of user data during transmission, HTTPS requires a TLS/ certificate which is divided into 3 types, namely:
- Domain Validation: validates that the party applying for the certificate is the owner of the domain. This type of validation can take minutes/hours.
- Organization Validation: not only validates domain ownership but also identifies the owner. This means that the owner of the organization may be asked to provide proof of personal identity document to prove his identity.
- Extended Validation : the highest validation level. This includes validation of domain ownership, owner identity and proof of business registration.
After understanding a brief explanation of HTTP and HTTPS, in the next section you can see a comparison of the two in more detail.
Difference between HTTP and HTTPS
The word ' Secure ' added to HTTPS would suffice to explain its main difference from HTTP. In more detail, the differences between HTTP and HTTPS you can learn in the table below:
| Parameter | HTTP | HTTPS |
|---|---|---|
| Full Form | Hypertext Transfer Protocol | Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure |
| Security | Data can be hacked and read by hackers | Hacker can't read data |
| Port | Default uses port 80 | Default uses port 443 |
| URL | http:// | https:// |
| Utility | Suitable for information-based websites such as blogs and news | Ideal for websites that store important information such as ID cards and credit cards |
| Randomization | Data is not scrambled so it is at risk of being stolen by hackers | The data is scrambled first. No one can read the contents of the data other than the recipient |
| Protocol | Operates at TCP/IP level | It doesn't have its own protocol. HTTPS operates over HTTP with an encrypted TLS/SSL connection |
| Domain validation | Does not require SSL | Requires SSL certificate |
| Data encryption | Does not use encryption | Using encryption |
| Search Ranking | Does not affect ranking | Can help increase rankingsSlower than HTTP |
| Vulnerability | Vulnerable to hacking | Much more secure because the data is encrypted |
From the table above, you can see the comparison between HTTP and HTTPS. At first glance, HTTP is superior in terms of performance and speed. On the other hand, HTTPS is relatively slower and has more procedures, such as SSL requirements.
However HTTPS offers much higher security than HTTP. The decline in HTTPS performance is not caused by poor quality, but a side effect of extra security operations (encryption, validation, etc.).
The majority of web browsers now prefer HTTPS over HTTP. Users who want to access HTTP sites are usually warned by web browsers that user information on these sites is not secure.
This is an extra effort with the aim of encouraging website developers to upgrade to HTTPS.
Advantages of HTTP and HTTPS
If you are not satisfied with the comparison table above, we will now discuss the advantages and disadvantages of HTTP and HTTPS separately.HTTP advantages
- Supports implementation with other protocols on the internet and other networks.
- HTTP pages are stored on the computer and cached , so they are accessed more quickly.
- Does not depend on any particular platform and allows cross-platform porting.
- Does not require any runtime support.
- Can be used through firewalls.
- Not connection oriented, so there is no network overhead to maintain session state and information.
Advantages of HTTPS
- In most cases, sites that use HTTPS will have a redirect . Even if the user types http:// the user will still be redirected to https://.
- Allows users to transact securely, for example, such as digital wallets, trading, and online banking.
- SSL technology protects users and builds trust.
- An independent authority verifies the identity of the certificate holder. Each SSL certificate contains authenticated information about its owner.
Disadvantages of HTTP
- There is no privacy because anyone can see the content.
- Data integrity is not guaranteed because anyone can change the content.
- Hackers who manage to intercept your data can read any information contained in it
Disadvantages of HTTPS
- The HTTPS protocol cannot protect data stored in the browser as cache.
- Data is only encrypted during transmission without being able to delete text from browser memory.
- Can incur network and computational overhead .
HTTP and HTTPS, Which to Choose?
Today, the default HTTPS protocol is used by 77.9% of websites worldwide. This data proves that HTTPS has become a current and future web technology trend.
Google also prioritizes websites that use HTTPS. If you want to rank well in search results, we recommend choosing HTTPS over HTTP.