HTTPS vs. HTTP: Why Secure Connections Matter in 2025
HTTP vs. HTTPS: The Core Difference in 2025
Every time you visit a website, your browser initiates a conversation with a server using either HTTP or HTTPS. While both protocols retrieve and display content, one leaves your data open to interception.
The distinction is deceptively simple. An extra “S” signals HTTPS is “Secure.” But that letter represents a foundational evolution in how websites protect users. In 2025, when hackers are constantly looking for the path of least resistance and conducting phishing, session hijacking, and data exfiltration against weak targets, using HTTPS should not be considered optional, as it so often was in years past; It should be a baseline expectation.
Understanding how these protocols differ helps you avoid avoidable security lapses and maintain user trust.
HTTPS vs. HTTP: A Technical Overview
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a less secure method for retrieving web content. It sends all data in plaintext, making it visible to any intermediary or prying eyes.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, or HTTPS, adds encryption through Transport Layer Security (TLS). Sometimes this is also called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), which is an earlier, less secure version of TLS, although some use these terms interchangeably.
HTTPS, with TLS, results in a secure connection where third parties cannot read or manipulate the data.
Here’s the difference:
- HTTP: No encryption. All data is exposed in transit.
- HTTPS: Encrypted using SSL/TLS, which ensures confidentiality, integrity, and authentication.
Without encryption in transit, everything from login credentials to session cookies is fair game for attackers.
How We Transitioned to HTTPS
The internet’s shift toward HTTPS was a response to our increased reliance on the internet for conducting transactions and transfers of sensitive information. It was also, in part, due to an escalation in HTTP risks, such as:
- Credential interception
- Session hijacking
- Malware injection
- Man-in-the-middle attacks
As of April 2025, approximately 98% of internet traffic in the U.S. uses HTTPS, according to Google statistics. Adoption is lower in other countries. For instance, Indonesia’s usage rate hovers around 87%, while India lands at 92%.
Regulators and browser vendors made the transition to HTTPS nearly inevitable to reduce surface area for exploitation. Google, for instance, announced in 2014 that it would provide a ranking boost to sites that relied on HTTPS. In 2018, Google began marking sites as “not secure” if they used HTTP instead of HTTPS, likely fostering further adoption.
Why HTTP Is Still Dangerous
Common risks include:
- Downgrade attacks: Adversaries force connections to fall back to HTTP
- Mixed content: Sites load scripts or images over HTTP, creating malware injection risks
- Legacy systems: Internal tools may still rely on plaintext communication
How HTTPS Works Behind the Scenes
When you connect to a secure site, a TLS handshake occurs between client and server:
- Client and Server Hello: Your browser offers supported TLS versions and ciphers and provides a random value. The server sends its SSL certificate, chosen cipher, and random value
- Authentication: Authentication of the server identity with the server’s public key and a digital signature from a certificate authority
- Key Generation: Shared session keys generated for symmetric encryption
SSL/TLS Certificate Management in 2025
Secure web connections depend on properly managed SSL/TLS certificates. But many sites can falter here, which can introduce avoidable exposure:
Best practices for certificate management include:
- Using short-lived certs as the lifetime of TLS certificates is decreasing to 200 days by early 2026 and 47 days by 2029
- Using TLS 1.3 can enhance both performance and security compared to previous versions, which should be disabled
- Automating renewal
- Monitoring for unauthorized issuance and expiration
- Enforce HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) to prevent protocol downgrades
How SecurityScorecard Identifies HTTPS Misconfigurations
SecurityScorecard’s platform flags web encryption weaknesses via its Application Security and DNS Health risk factors. Using Attack Surface Intelligence (ASI), it detects:
- Expired or weak certificates
- Insecure HTTPS redirects
- Certificates from untrusted Certificate Authorities, or which are revoked
These are the kinds of silent missteps that can leave organizations vulnerable.
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