HTTPS and modern HTTP
HTTPS and TLS
Understand how TLS adds encryption, integrity, and server authentication while leaving familiar HTTP methods and messages intact.
8 minute lesson
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HTTPS is HTTP carried through a TLS-protected connection.
TLS provides three important properties:
- encryption keeps message contents private in transit
- integrity detects tampering
- server authentication lets the client verify the certificate for the hostname
The HTTP concepts stay familiar. You still use URLs, methods, headers, status codes, and bodies.
HTTPS does not prove a site is honest or bug-free. It protects the connection to the authenticated host. Application security remains your responsibility.
Use HTTPS everywhere, not only on login pages. An unprotected page can be modified to steal credentials before a visitor reaches the secure form.
Lesson completed