When in comes to surfing the internet, what should be our priority is our privacy and security. This security has to do with the kind of web pages we visit, the information we share with them, and what they do with such information.
In most cases our data is transferred securely through an encrypted service protocol called https, and is normally represented by a padlock symbol on the top left end of the browser.
Some of you may be aware of this difference, but it is
worth sharing for many that are not.
The main difference between http:// and https:// is all about keeping you secure.
HTTP stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol.
The S (big surprise) stands for “Secure”. If you visit a Website or web page, and look at the address in the web browser, it is likely begin with the following: http:///.
This means that the website is talking to your browser using
the regular unsecured language. In other words, it is possible for someone to “eavesdrop” on your computer’s conversation with the Website. If you fill out a form on the website, someone might see the information you send to that site.
This is why you never ever enter your credit card number in an
Http website! But if the web address begins with https://, that means your computer is talking to the website in a
Secure code that no one can eavesdrop on.
Now, you understand why this is so important, right?
If a website ever asks you to enter your Credit/Debit card
Information, you should automatically look to see if the web
address begins with https://.
If it doesn’t, you should NEVER enter sensitive Information such as a credit/debit card number.
While checking the name of any website, first look for the domain extension (.com or .org, .co, .in, .net etc). The name just before this is the domain name of the website. Eg, in the above example, http://amazon.diwali-festivals.com, the word before .com is “diwali-festivals” (and NOT “amazon”). So, this webpage does not belong to amazon.com but belongs to “diwali-festivals.com”, which we all haven’t heard of before.
You can similarly check for bank frauds.
Before your ebanking logins, make sure that the name just before “.com” is the name of your bank. “Something.Ecobank.com” belongs to Ecobank ; but, Ecobank.some1else.com belongs to “some1else.
You’ve hopefully learned something new, now please share and educate others.
