HTTPS

HTTPS is HTTP over TLS: it encrypts HTTP communication at the transport layer, providing confidentiality, integrity, and server authentication, and it is the modern web standard.

Purpose

It protects user privacy and data by preventing HTTP traffic from being eavesdropped, tampered with, or forged.

Mechanism

A TLS handshake runs on top of TCP first (negotiating cipher suites, verifying the certificate, establishing keys); the HTTP plaintext then travels inside the encrypted TLS channel. The default port is 443, certificates are signed by CAs, and HTTP/2/3 generally require HTTPS.

Use cases

Secure web communication
API authentication and data protection
Online payments
Logins and form submissions

Examples

Input

https://example.com

Output

HTTP encrypted by TLS

Default port 443

Common errors

The certificate has expired or does not match the domain: Renew the certificate and make sure it covers every subdomain

Related terms

HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) is the application-layer protocol of the Web, built on a request-response model, stateless, and the foundation of web communication.

TLS (Transport Layer Security) provides encryption, integrity, and authentication at the transport layer; it replaced SSL and underpins HTTPS, SMTPS, and more.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the early security protocol designed by Netscape; it has been replaced by TLS, though the name survives colloquially.

X.509 Certificate

An X.509 certificate binds a public key to an identity, signed by a CA for verification, containing validity, issuer, subject, and extension fields.

Related tools

HTTP Status Codes

Reference table of common HTTP status codes (1xx-5xx) with names, categories, and descriptions. Free, private, and 100% client-side.

Parse a URL into its components: protocol, host, path, query, hash, port, username, and password. Free, private, and 100% client-side.

References