This post follows up on the two-minute tech tip I recorded for Episode 253 of the Just the Books podcast. This is the second post in series that covers digital credibility and phishing.
The first part of what goes into the address bar of a web browser gives that program an instruction. HTTP means Hypertext Transfer Protocol, and tells a web server to exchange hypertext (html, web pages).
HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure which is HTTP with additional instructions, SSL/TLS. They encrypt communications over the internet.
In order to have an SSL/TLS connection, several things need to happen, including server authentication. This is done with a certificate. It is important to pay attention to the certificate. If you start at slide 33 of this PDF presentation, you’ll see why it is important to pay attention to the domain name!
Enabling https in some common web applications
- Enable https for Twitter
- What is https and its benefits for Facebook and Enable https for Facebook
- Enable https for LinkedIn
- Enable https for Gmail
Checking certificates in common web browsers
If you keep seeing notice of expired or invalid security certificates, try checking the date and time on your computer. Is it pining for days gone by or off exploring the future? Try changing it back to the present and see if that helps you out.
Next week I will continue this series with phishing.