Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http) is a system for transmitting and receiving information across the Internet. Http serves as a request and response procedure that all agents on the Internet follow so that information can be rapidly, easily, and accurately disseminated between servers, which hold information, and clients, who are trying to access it. Http is commonly used to access html pages, but other resources can be utilized as well through http. In many cases, clients may be exchanging confidential information with a server, which needs to be secured in order to prevent unauthorized access. For this reason, https, or secure http, was developed by Netscape corporation to allow authorization and secured transactions.

In many ways, https is identical to http, because it follows the same basic protocols. The http or https client, such as a Web browser, establishes a connection to a server on a standard port. When a server receives a request, it returns a status and a message, which may contain the requested information or indicate an error if part of the process malfunctioned. Both systems use the same Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) scheme, so that resources can be universally identified. Use of https in a URI scheme rather than http indicates that an encrypted connection is desired.

There are some primary differences between http and https, however, beginning with the default port, which is 80 for http and 443 for https. Https works by transmitting normal http interactions through an encrypted system, so that in theory, the information cannot be accessed by any party other than the client and end server. There are two common types of encryption layers: Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), both of which encode the data records being exchanged.

When using an https connection, the server responds to the initial connection by offering a list of encryption methods it supports. In response, the client selects a connection method, and the client and server exchange certificates to authenticate their identities. After this is done, both parties exchange the encrypted information after ensuring that both are using the same key, and the connection is closed. In order to host https connections, a server must have a public key certificate, which embeds key information with a verification of the key owner's identity. Most certificates are verified by a third party so that clients are assured that the key is secure.

Https is used in many situations, such as log-in pages for banking, forms, corporate log ons, and other applications in which data needs to be secure. However, if not implemented properly, https is not infallible, and therefore it is extremely important for end users to be wary about accepting questionable certificates and cautious with their personal information while using the Internet.

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anon195350 Post 171	To the point information. Useful and can be easily understood by a commoner.



anon186351 Post 170	Could you provide some more information related to protocols?



anon166036 Post 158	It's good and easily understandable



anon158623 Post 155	https is just secure for preventing unauthourized access. it works like a proxy server.



anon149497 Post 148	thanks for crystal clarification between the two http and https.



anon118810 Post 139	Many thanks. I'm a newbie and learned something new.



anon118076 Post 138	The best question I have not seen asked. Why? Why would a company have both http:// and https:// The user is only told to go to the http://site. The owner or someone else knows about the https://site. Why? I am referring to websites that do request very private information! This has to be best question of the day! Why would a checked out clean site do this? Why?



anon116835 Post 136	thank you very much. it really cleared my basic doubts. Thanks once again. Nishank



anon114585 Post 134	wow! Awesome explanation man! well done. Dev, sys-admin.



anon110920 Post 132	it was really a nice concept to understand for new readers.



anon110456 Post 131	Detailing about http and https is very good. Even a layman like me can understand. Thank you. - Sateesh K.



anon108513 Post 130	How can we create an SSL certificate ourselves and how do we install our own SSL certificate?



anon105835 Post 128	nice post. it really help me know more, although basic, important information. thanks!



anon105339 Post 127	Nice article and it explains the basics of http and https. Keep it up.



anon104489 Post 126	It was good. thanks for your information.



anon104105 Post 125	can you please explain with some examples?



anon102670 Post 124	It's very helpful and one can easily get to know about http and https.



anon102669 Post 123	it's really easy to understand, and a better way to get to know the details.



anon101768 Post 122	very good article. keep it up



anon100100 Post 120	Very nice. It's a good article.



anon97774 Post 118	it was very good and easy to understand by a new reader as well.



anon96733 Post 117	great concept. it's too simple and easy to understand. Thanks.



anon96156 Post 115	good. gives basic information.



anon95908 Post 114	Good one, useful for me.



anon94338 Post 113	Good one.



anon93859 Post 112	it was good.



anon93151 Post 111	very good article and very much useful. Thanks for letting me know the difference between http and https.



anon93121 Post 110	thanks, your article is very simple and helpful.



anon92267 Post 107	Thanks. Your articles are short and easy to understand.



anon92002 Post 106	Good post.



anon90226 Post 105	good details in simple, user friendly language. Good work.



anon89272 Post 104	really worthwhile and simple way of presentation.



anon89157 Post 103	Thanks for clearing up the difference between http and https.



anon88629 Post 102	Thanks for this. I appreciate it.



anon88278 Post 101	This post impressed me. Good.



anon88130 Post 100	According to me, its a very good description about http and https.



anon88099 Post 99	Simply superb. Thanks for your info.



anon87870 Post 98	good work.



anon86869 Post 95	Great job dear. Is there any effect on SEO? Thanks, sathish.



anon85410 Post 93	Really useful article. Thanks.



anon85332 Post 92	great explanation of the difference between http: and https: great job Leo!



anon83793 Post 91	Short and sweet without much getting deep into complexities of technical stuff.. Great efforts. -M.Aziz



anon83468 Post 90	I want to know functional/technical difference between HTTP and HTTPS.



anon83232 Post 88	nice post in simple words.



anon77315 Post 86	Thanks. Really, i was always confused on this, but when i read this pages then my confusion has been cleared. Really, thanks very much.



anon77299 Post 85	Very good reply and easy to understand.



anon76788 Post 84	very nice information that was really useful.



anon76767 Post 83	It is described in very simple language.Thanks a lot. Kailash S. (Cavinkare Pvt.Ltd. Haridwar)



anon76185 Post 82	Very easy to understand! --Subbu, Mumbai



anon75563 Post 81	thanks. it's really a useful article.



anon74992 Post 80	thank you very much. it really cleared my basic doubts. Thanks once again.



anon74793 Post 79	Great piece of info.



anon74536 Post 78	Nice.



anon73970 Post 77	Excellent overview. I am a computer engineering student and I appreciate your work.



anon73948 Post 76	good info.



anon73561 Post 75	Nice article. Thanks. Prabu R.



anon72851 Post 73	Nice post. Allan J.



anon72645 Post 72	Nice article! Very much helpful for me. --gunasekhar



anon71312 Post 69	Good one. Small effort and good effect.



anon69944 Post 68	Really a nice article. (Dinesh the network King!)



anon69729 Post 67	Good. It's really a nice article giving a clear overview of the required content. Thank you.



anon68899 Post 66	can you post more on http and https?



anon68565 Post 65	Thanks for the post. May i know some examples where we can use "http" and "https"? -Manohar G



anon68338 Post 63	it's really nice and very simple to understand.



anon67502 Post 62	Information shared was very useful. Thank you. -Manohar



anon65480 Post 60	This is really very nice and helpful to understand. Thanks.



anon65089 Post 59	Thanks for giving such a clear and precise differences.



anon64998 Post 58	something's bothering me for a while: if I have a form on http:// and action of the form is https:// are the submitted data on the form encrypted and safe? asking because it's "sent" from a not-secure page? any idea?



anon64879 Post 57	Short and to the point. Very informative.



anon64553 Post 56	it's clearly given what the difference is. thank you.



anon64051 Post 55	Good article.



anon62893 Post 54	It's good information to get clear idea about HTTP and HTTPS. --Magukutti.



anon62016 Post 53	a nice article for beginner. helps in understanding the basic difference between http and https.



anon61222 Post 52	pretty good info about http and https. thanks for the author who provided this.



anon60149 Post 51	Very good information is posted here. But we are looking for a detailed description.



anon57538 Post 49	HTTPS encrypts the values that is sent during the postbacks, all the viewstate data will be in encrypted format. where as HTTP doesn't encrypt the postback values and will be in string format. Options for configuring different security level will be done in IIS or web server. Client may or may not have certificates. it depends on the web server security configuration. Correct me if am wrong :) mv kotekar Thank you.



anon55522 Post 47	I am still confuses with this. Should I know the functional difference between this two? Thanks in advance. --Arvind



anon54902 Post 46	I want to know the actual functional or technical working of both HTTP and HTTPS, as well as the functional differences between them.



anon54901 Post 45	It's a good article. Gives basic information about http and https.



anon54389 Post 43	Very nice article.



anon54125 Post 42	A sweet, short and complete picture of the topic



anon52981 Post 41	Https works in the transport layer and http in the presentation layer.



anon52432 Post 39	It's a good article, giving basic information about http adn https. Nice work.



anon52177 Post 38	It's a good article.



anon51502 Post 37	It's really a very good answers. i am able to sort out all my queries. thanks.



anon51061 Post 36	Really nice answer.



anon50715 Post 35	It's a good article. it cleared my questions. Thank you.



anon48859 Post 32	really good article! by sarath



anon48629 Post 31	It's really nice information.



anon47761 Post 30	nice article. it may be helpful to new comers. thanks anilaluvala



anon47737 Post 29	Very informative to understand the basic difference, which will help even a layman to have a nice idea. Rajesh



anon47340 Post 28	Nice article. Informative.



anon44610 Post 27	good article.



anon44569 Post 26	What are the advantages of https?



anon43593 Post 25	good article, nicely posted.



anon43423 Post 24	great, it's really a great article. i was just looking for this kind of article about difference between http and https. thanks



anon43254 Post 23	A more elaborate description should be post terms a user can understand.



anon42403 Post 22	Good one. I really want to know about secure connections over the web!



anon41587 Post 20	good one. really helps



anon41310 Post 19	Useful information -- Aparna



anon40297 Post 18	It really helps.



anon39763 Post 17	Great article!



anon38004 Post 15	in which layer of Model it differ?means network layer or presentation layer?



anon37997 Post 14	i am getting an issue when posting to a HTTP URL...i am using a https connetion in my code... should it give an error ???



anon37653 Post 13	if https is secured then why do we use http



anon35081 Post 12	How can we create Https in web browsers



anon34595 Post 11	Most of the webmails like gmail, yahoo etc.. use secured http(https) but why rediff mail is not using secured one? Does it mean it is not at all secured?



anon31538 Post 10	What are the advantages of https?



anon15931 Post 5	It's a good article.. Giving basic information about http & https..



praavin007 Post 4	I want to know the actual functional or technical working of both HTTP and HTTPS, as well as the functional differences between them.



anon5734 Post 3	I want to know functional/technical difference between HTTP and HTTPS.

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