More on HTTPS
Do you remember this TechBits post about http and https? If you have time, read it over again and be sure to watch the 3-minute CommonCraft video because you're going to be hearing a lot more about https in upcoming months.
What are the advantages of https?
- Confidentiality - information is passed securely between websites and browsers
- Authenticity - when you see that little lock, you know you're really talking to the website that belongs to that name
- Integrity - that lock indicates that the content of the site hasn't been changed by a 3rd party on its way to your browser
Chrome and Firefox are the browsers at the forefront of the push to move all sites to https. They already warn you that a page is "not secure" if it is http and prompting you to put in a username and password. Very soon (July 2018 for Chrome), they will be alerting users that ALL http pages are "not secure."
The winds of change are blowing
As websites move to https, a couple of things will happen:
- Everyone with a website will be scrambling to configure their sites to be https
- Very old browsers may not be able to use https sites
SCLS has a team of folks looking at what needs to happen to move SCLS websites and SCLS-hosted library websites to https, and we and will be sharing more information on the SCLS Technology News blog and in Top 5 emails as we have more details. If your library has a website that isn't hosted with SCLS, you may need to look into what steps to take to enable https for your website.
In the meantime, if you're looking for some more in-depth information, try these posts:
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