The main differences between HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) and HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) are security, encryption, and data integrity verification
1. Secure transmission:
HTTP: No encryption is provided, and all information is transmitted over the network in clear text, including user data, cookies, and other sensitive information. This means that data transmitted over HTTP is vulnerable to interception or tampering with man-in-the-middle attacks (MITM).
HTTPS: SSL TLS protocol is added on the basis of HTTP to encrypt the communication content, so as to ensure the privacy and security of the transmitted data. Even if the data is obtained by a third party, it cannot be directly interpreted.
2. Port: http: port 80 is used for communication by default.
https: Port 443 is used for communication by default.
3. Certificate:
HTTP: No certificate is required, and the server can directly respond to client requests.
HTTPS: An SSL certificate issued by a trusted certificate authority (CA) is required to prove the server's identity and establish a secure connection. Certificates ensure that clients establish a connection to the correct server, preventing security threats such as phishing**.
4. Encryption: http: HTTP is a hypertext transmission protocol, and the information is transmitted in plaintext, without encryption mechanism.
HTTPS: SSL TLS is used to encrypt data at the transport layer, which can effectively prevent data eavesdropping and tampering.
5. Integrity verification
HTTP: The integrity and consistency of the data cannot be verified, and the data may be modified in transit.
HTTPS: You can verify the integrity of data during transmission by using functions such as MAC Message Authentication Code (MAC) and digital signature provided by SSL TLS.
6. Initial connection establishment delay:
HTTP: Since HTTPS requires an encrypted connection to be established, it takes longer than HTTP to complete the connection.
HTTPS: This is due to the SSL handshake process that needs to be completed, i.e., the client and server need to negotiate the encryption algorithm and key.
7. Browser prompt:
HTTP: Modern browsers often warn users that the sites they visit are not secure.
https: Displays a secure connection with a lock icon to enhance user trust.
8. Resource consumption:
HTTPS requires more computing resources to encrypt and decrypt data, so it may consume more CPU resources relative to HTTP.
In summary, HTTPS is more suitable than HTTP for scenarios involving the interaction of privacy and sensitive information, such as payment, account login, personal information submission, etc. As the security requirements of the network environment increase, more and more ** and services are moving to the mandatory use of HTTPS.