Internet PC Networking

We pass a tremendous amount of information back and forth using internet browser to the Internet everyday. Basically most of the time, the protocol uses in this communication is HTTP or hypertext transfer protocol.

In HTTP, all data is transferred in clear text - data such as userid/password will be transmitted as clear text as well.

This is a big issue as anyone can sniff these userid/password and gain access to your private information.

To prevent this we have to encrypt HTTP traffic, essentially HTTP + SSL or HTTPS. Anything transferred over HTTPS is encrypted and userid/passwd transmitted will not be easily deciphered. This in effect will protect user identities and passwords. Besides this, HTTPS will also protect credit card transactions during online consumer purchases. Having HTTPS implemented will also ensure that sensitive personal information are secured in transmission from web server to your browser. These are the reason for most of the e-commerce and banking site to implement HTTPS at their site.

Although there are these benefits available with the implementation of HTTPS. However, it is not a wise decision to encrypt every page of your site. When HTTPS is implemented, every bit of information sent back and forth is encrypted and decrypted. These includes graphics, text and and so on. This will generate a lot of unnecessary load to your server and client and may slow down the response time to your site. So, it is important to only encrypt absolutely necessary pages at your site.

By the way, HTTPS runs on port 443. The normal HTTP is running on port 80.