Internet security and the protection of private details is an everyday challenge faced by millions of website owners around the world.
In Europe in particular, the impending imposition of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which replaces the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC, is a serious indication of how data privacy and the protection thereof will shape online policy from 25 May 2018.
Securing your website, and giving visitors confidence that you’ve done so, starts with converting from unsecured transfer protocols (HTTP) to a secured protocol (HTTPS).
HTTP protocol is becoming increasingly unsuitable as the data that is being communicated between the browser and the website is sent over in plain text, meaning that if this information was intercepted, it would be possible for criminals to see the information you were both viewing and sending on the website.
Given the number of online shops, location-based sites etc. where people use private login, password, payment and address details, the risks here are apparent!
By converting to HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure), website owners are able to secure the transfer of data between their sites and visitors – HTTPS uses separate protocols called SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and TLS (Transport Layer Security) to encrypt information, making it extremely difficult to intercept.
Added incentive
Not that website owners should need more incentive than the above, but to add weight to the argument to change to HTTPS is the fact that Google will be flagging non-secure websites on their Chrome browser from July this year.
“Chrome’s new interface will help users understand that all HTTP sites are not secure, and continue to move the web toward a secure HTTPS web by default,” Google said in a statement in February.
The upside beyond visitor security is that HTTPS status will help sites rank higher than those not secured, giving visitors more confidence.
To convert your website to secure protocol, or to find out more, contact Realnet today on +44 1223 55 08 00.