When a browser connects to websites over HTTPS (vs. HTTP), eavesdroppers and attackers on the network can't intercept or alter the data that's shared over that connection (including personal info, or even the page itself). This level of privacy and security is vital for the web ecosystem, so Chrome
continues to invest in making HTTPS more widely supported.
Thankfully, HTTPS adoption has come
a long way in recent years, and most operating systems now see 90%+ of page loads over HTTPS in Chrome. Still, there's more we can do to help make HTTPS the preferred protocol on the web, and better protect users on the remaining slice of the web that doesn’t yet support HTTPS, so today we're sharing some future work in this area.
Opting in to an HTTPS-First World
Beginning in M94, Chrome will offer HTTPS-First Mode, which will attempt to upgrade all page loads to HTTPS and display a full-page warning before loading sites that don’t support it. Users who enable this mode gain confidence that Chrome is connecting them to sites over HTTPS whenever possible, and that they will see a warning before connecting to sites over HTTP. Based on ecosystem feedback, we’ll explore making HTTPS-First mode the default for all users in the future. Mozilla has also shared their intent to make
HTTPS-only mode the future of web browsing in Firefox.
Experimenting with the lock icon
As we approach an HTTPS-first future, we're also re-examining the lock icon that browsers typically show when a site loads over HTTPS. In particular,
our research indicates that users often associate this icon with a site being trustworthy, when in fact it's only the connection that's secure. In a recent study, we found that only 11% of participants could correctly identify the meaning of the lock icon. To try and reduce this confusion, Chrome will run an experiment in M93 that replaces the lock in the address bar with a more neutral entry point to Page Info (example below). We hope that this experiment will improve the discoverability of critical privacy and security information and controls provided in Page Info, such as site permissions. Importantly, a "Not Secure" indicator will continue to show on sites without HTTPS support, and the experiment includes an enterprise policy in case organizations want to opt-out. In all cases, we'll provide advance notice if we decide to move ahead with a full launch.
Posted by Shweta Panditrao, Devon O'Brien, Emily Stark, Google Chrome team
