What is HTTPS and what does the S signify?

What is HTTPS and what does the S signify?

• A. HTTPS is the same as HTTP but without encryption.
• B. HTTPS is HTTP over TLS/SSL; the S signifies secure encryption for data in transit.
• C. HTTPS encrypts data at rest on the server.
• D. HTTPS is a different protocol unrelated to HTTP.

Answer: (B)

HTTPS means HTTP over TLS/SSL. The S signifies Secure, indicating that the communication between your browser and the server is encrypted during transit. This encryption, along with server authentication via certificates, protects data from eavesdropping, tampering, and impersonation as it moves across the network. Data in transit is guarded, not data stored on the server. The other ideas aren’t right because HTTPS isn’t just HTTP without encryption, and it doesn’t encrypt data at rest on the server. It also isn’t a completely different protocol unrelated to HTTP—the secure version uses HTTP as the underlying application protocol, just wrapped in TLS/SSL to provide security.

HTTPS means HTTP over TLS/SSL. The S signifies Secure, indicating that the communication between your browser and the server is encrypted during transit. This encryption, along with server authentication via certificates, protects data from eavesdropping, tampering, and impersonation as it moves across the network. Data in transit is guarded, not data stored on the server.

The other ideas aren’t right because HTTPS isn’t just HTTP without encryption, and it doesn’t encrypt data at rest on the server. It also isn’t a completely different protocol unrelated to HTTP—the secure version uses HTTP as the underlying application protocol, just wrapped in TLS/SSL to provide security.