
Unfortunately, certificate authorities sometimes issue bad certificates and the system breaks down. The company that issued the security certificate vouches for them. This helps you ensure that, if you see “” in your web browser’s address bar, you’re actually connected to your bank’s real website. When you connect to an HTTPS-secured server-secure sites like your bank’s will automatically redirect you to HTTPS-your web browser checks the website’s security certificate and verifies it was issued by a legitimate certificate authority.

RELATED: How Browsers Verify Website Identities and Protect Against Imposters These problems occur because HTTP connections are not encrypted. HTTPS connections are. Passwords and credit card numbers should never be sent over an HTTP connection, or an eavesdropper could easily steal them. Maybe you think you accessed your bank’s website, but you’re on a compromised network that’s redirecting you to an impostor website. For one thing, there’s no way to verify you’re connected to the correct website. RELATED: What Is Encryption, and How Does It Work? An eavesdropper on a Wi-Fi network, your internet service provider, or government intelligence agencies like the NSA can see the web pages you’re visiting and the data you’re transferring back and forth. Data is sent over the connection in clear text. When you connect to a website with regular HTTP, your browser looks up the IP address that corresponds to the website, connects to that IP address, and assumes it’s connected to the correct web server.
