Website security is always on web user’s minds. Trying to protect data online is an ongoing process, and Google is taking a big step towards securing the websites that appear in their search engine. The search engine giant is cracking down on websites accessed through their Chrome Browser that aren’t secured with an HTTPS connection. Through increased use of their Not Secure warning, and decreasing the search rankings of non-compliant websites, Google is trying to establish HTTPS everywhere.
What is HTTPS Everywhere?
HTTP and HTTPS are protocols used to pass information between web servers and clients. The only difference you need to know is that HTTPS makes it impossible for unauthorized parties to view sensitive data moving between your computer and a website. This added level of Security is what the ‘S’ in HTTPS stands for. The Google initiative to get HTTPS everywhere is an effort to increase the security of personal data transfer. This is especially important for the roughly 40% of the World’s 100 largest online retailers that don’t have HTTPS connections.
How Will Your Site Be Affected?
Google will incentivize websites to use HTTPS everywhere by increasing the number of websites that receive the Not Secure mark in the search bar. This increase doesn’t mean that there will be more insecure websites. Google will just be reclassifying some websites that are currently ‘neutral.’ These are the HTTP connections that aren’t secured, but also aren’t marked insecure. These ‘neutral’ websites make up about 66% of the internet, so your website will likely soon be marked Not Secure in Google Chrome. This could cause issues for your company, especially the peace of mind of your website users.
How To Reassure Your Users
If your website is in the 66% of those affected by Google’s plan, you aren’t helpless. Changing your HTTP connection to conform to HTTPS everywhere isn’t impossible. It’s just not something you should attempt on your own. Buy the proper security from a trusted, third party, SSL certificate provider, and have this installed by a web developer. This will ensure that it doesn’t disrupt other functions on your website. By doing so, you can align your website with Google’s view for a more secure internet. This will also provide your users with the peace of mind that confidential data won’t be accessible to hackers or third parties.
KIMBO Design takes the utmost precaution when protecting data on the websites that we create. Our programmers are experts in WordPress security, and pride themselves on giving our clients the online peace of mind they deserve. To practice what we preach, we use identical security tactics on our own website.
