HTTP or HTTPS ? What’s the difference? Answer: Security!

Websites that ask you to LOG IN, or PAY WITH A CREDIT CARD, or WANT PERSONAL INFO should be ‘secure’ so your information is encrypted from end to end. This is the way it should be.

However, if you have a website such as BECKPC.NET, which NEVER will ask for your credit card, or personal info, and only is providing FREE information or SUPPORT, it’s really not required or necessary.

A secure website has an SSL certificate assigned to it. What that means is it’s like a ‘key’ for the little lock that appears in your browser. It verifies that the site you’re on, is the same ‘registered’ site it should be. It’s security and YOU SHOULD NEVER ENTER ANY PERSONAL INFO WITHOUT THAT LITTLE LOCK ON YOUR BROWSER.

Since you’ll never be asked for anything personal on MY WEBSITE, I opted not to deal with getting an SSL Certificate. It’s just another $50 a year to prove my website is legit. It also makes your website load up to 40% slower. Why? Because it’s reading that ‘key’ and then ‘verifying the validity of it’ and then the page will open. Otherwise you’ll get a “Mismatched SSL Warning’ and the website will not come up. That means the certificate expired, or the website is not where it says it is, or owned by the group that registered it.

You will also see error messages if YOUR CLOCK IS NOT SET CORRECTLY on your computer. If you’re PC date and time are off by more than even a few hours, you won’t connect to those websites.

Does that mean I should ALWAYS TRUST A SITE THAT IS SECURE? No… it does not.

Even malicious software websites can have an SSL certificate. Remember? I said they cost about $50. Anyone can fork over $50 and get a cert key. SSL is only a registration certificate, nothing more. It validates the owner of the website, but how many websites have been created with fictitious owners?

If you ever question a website about what it is asking for and if you should trust it, We recommend that you DON’T ENTER ANYTHING, if you are unsure. Call and ask us, or forward an email.