Difference between http:// and https://

HTTP ( Hypertext Transfer Protocol ) is a system for transmitting and receiving information across the Internet. It is a protocol that's used by a client and server which allows you to communicate with other websites. HTTP is 'plain text', or a binary file (like an image) anyone can read or see, this means that it is unsecured. The client sends a request message to an HTTP server (after the TCP handshake) which hosts a website, the server then replies with the response message. HTTP is commonly used to access html pages from web servers, but other resources can be utilized as well through http.

HTTP Vs. HTTPS

HTTP is meant to run over a bidirectional tunnel for arbitrary binary data; when that tunnel is an SSL/TLS connection, then the whole is called "HTTPS". HTTP with an S that means SSL. It is supposed to mean "HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure" , which is grammatically unsound. HTTPS means that you tunnel the HTTP protocol over TLS/SSL which encrypts the HTTP payload. HTTPS requires a TLS certificate to be installed on your server. SSL/TLS is sold in the form of digital certificates. You can apply certificates to different protocols, like HTTP, SMTP and FTP. Transport Layer Security (TLS) uses a technology called public key encryption: there are two keys, a public key and a private key:

1. The public key is used for encryption.
2. The secret private key is required for decryption.

When a client opens a connection with a server, the two devices use the public and private key to agree on new keys, called session keys, to encrypt further communications between them. In order for a hacker to steal or manipulate the data being transmitted, that third party would need a session key , otherwise the data is jumbled and useless. So the advantage is that your HTTPS requests and responses are transmitted securely over the wire.

In many ways, https is identical to http, because it follows the same basic protocols . The difference between HTTP and HTTPS is of SSL certificate . A website that loads on HTTPS uses an SSL certificate to send and receive the information in an encrypted state . By using the HTTPS on your site, instead of HTTP, you take a big step to secure the data of the site.

Differences between HTTP and HTTPS

1. HTTP is unsecured while HTTPS is secured.
2. HTTP URL begins with http:// and the HTTPS URL is https://.
3. HTTP uses port number 80 for communication and HTTPS uses 443.
4. HTTP Works at Application Layer and HTTPS works at Transport Layer.
5. No encryption in HTTP, with HTTPS the data is encrypted before sending.
6. HTTP does not need an SSL certificate, but HTTPS does.