myIT Tip of the Week

myIT Tip of the Week

Wait, what’s this https thing?

You may notice while browsing websites if you enter the URL into the box instead of using a search engine that almost everyone has replaced http:// with https://. Most of the time, no one even fills this part out. We rely on our browsers to do so. But when we shop online, (as more than 140 million shoppers in the US are projected to do this Black Friday) or send sensitive information through a website, this can mean quite a lot.

 

On the other side of the bar in Internet Explorer, or right next to it in Firefox, Chrome and Safari, secure sites will also display a handy lock icon, letting you know that this site has HTTPS. HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. It is a standard way of preventing your information from ending up in the wrong hands. Sometimes, thieves try to get your information. They will try to intercept your messages on their way to the server, read them, and then send them on so that no one will be the wiser. With the S, not only would thieves have to intercept the signal, they would also have to decode it. If you have any questions or see anything which makes you suspicious, feel free to contact the IT Helpdesk at (620) 341-5555 or by email at helpdesk@emporia.edu.