Over the past few years, Google has thrown out a lot of inducements to convince business owners to convert their websites to HTTPS, for example making encryption a positive SEO ranking factor. They have also used some sticks, such as announcing to website visitors that the website is running over HTTP and it is insecure. Now they have gone a step further; but at Website Sorted we are prepared.
According to this short blog post posted on Google’s Chromium Blog by Emily Shecter of the Chrome Security Team:-
“In January, we began our quest to improve how Chrome communicates the connection security of HTTP pages. Chrome now marks HTTP pages as “Not secure” if they have password or credit card fields. Beginning in October 2017, Chrome will show the “Not secure” warning in two additional situations: when users enter data on an HTTP page, and on all HTTP pages visited in Incognito mode . ”
This means that any website with a contact form will be identified as insecure. Google has also made it clear that this is not their end goal. Further in the post, she says:-
“Eventually, we plan to show the “Not secure” warning for all HTTP pages, even outside Incognito mode. We will publish updates as we approach future releases, but don’t wait to get started moving to HTTPS!”
Research carried out by HubSpot suggests that 82% of people surveyed will not browse unsecured pages .
Google is determined to make unsecure HTTP websites a thing of the past and we are in full agreement. A more secure internet is better for everybody and that is why Website Sorted are offering HTTPS encryption FREE with
every website we build.