Google has officially confirmed that it’s starting its crackdown on websites that aren’t encrypted. Google’s Chrome browser will start warning its users when websites don’t use HTTPS, which means that they may not be securing passwords or credit card details properly. The move is part of Google’s plan to fundamentally change how everyone views web encryption.
The reason why Google considers encryption to be so important is the fact that it can hide data so that hackers can’t understand the information that is being sent and received by a computer. As well as this, encryption also stops people who try to modify certain websites by inserting their own advertisement. The only downside, at least in the eyes of the government, is that it makes it harder for law enforcements or surveillance authorities to do their jobs, though many internet users see this as a positive.
Google’s goal is for encrypted websites to become the norm in order to improve consumer privacy and security, which is why starting with Chrome 56, which is due in January 2017, the company’s browser will start marking websites that handle passwords or credit card details and don’t utilize an HTTPS connection as “not secure.” Obviously, the change is only a small one, but the internet giant is hoping that it will make users more aware of their security. Initially, as stated above, the warning will only be limited to websites that handle passwords or credit card details, though, eventually, it will cover all websites that use don’t use a secure connection. The idea behind this is to encourage web developers to switch to a secure connection in order to avoid being flagged as “not secure.”
The announcement of this update to Google’s browser comes just days after the release of the latest version, Chrome 53, which brought the long awaited Material Design makeover to Windows and saw the same version of Chrome OS disappoint a number of users by not including the highly anticipated Android apps support that many believed would be included in the update. It remains to be seen if Google’s encryption efforts can convince developers to adopt a secure connection, but with the possibility of websites being marked as “not secure,” there could be a sudden increase of secure connections over the coming months.