Google Chrome will brand all HTTP sites as not secure from July

Google has been advocating towards a more secure internet with HTTPS encrypted sites, and will now transition towards warning users more strongly about insecure HTTP sites.

“For the past several years, we’ve moved toward a more secure web by strongly advocating that sites adopt HTTPS encryption. And within the last year, we’ve also helped users understand that HTTP sites are not secure by gradually marking a larger subset of HTTP pages as “not secure”. Beginning in July 2018 with the release of Chrome 68, Chrome will mark all HTTP sites as “not secure” explained Chrome’s Emily Schetcher in a blog post this Thursday.

For the uninformed, HTTPS stands for HTTP Secure and is an implementation of the HTTP protocol with encryption adopted for more security.

From July 2018, Chrome will strongly indicate that HTTP sites are insecure, with a “Not-Secure” warning appearing in the Omnibox. Presently, the firm uses an infobox with an exclamation mark to alert users to the status of insecure sites., much like Microsoft Edge and other mainstream browsers do.

Google says 81 out of the top 100 sites on the Web use HTTPS, and over 68% of traffic on both Windows and Android is protected, with the number rising to 79% when Chrome OS and MacOS are brought into play.

The “not-secure” tag, is a nudge to get all but the most indolent of developers to make their sites more user-friendly or face the penalty of public shaming.

As Chrome commands over 50% of the browser market, one might suspect this to be a workable tactic.