What is the difference between HTTP and HTTPS?
Answer
HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) is the foundation of data communication on the Web — it transmits data in plaintext between a browser and a web server. Anyone intercepting the traffic (man-in-the-middle attack) can read or modify the data. HTTPS (HTTP Secure) encrypts the HTTP traffic using TLS (Transport Layer Security), previously SSL. TLS provides: encryption (data cannot be read in transit), authentication (SSL certificate proves the server is who it claims to be, issued by a Certificate Authority), and data integrity (tampered data is detected). HTTPS uses port 443; HTTP uses port 80. Since 2018, browsers mark all HTTP sites as "Not Secure." HTTPS is now the standard — nearly all websites and APIs use it. TLS 1.3 (current version) is faster and more secure than previous versions.