Ever been ready to fill out a form online and then pause, wondering who's actually getting your information? Most websites are public, and the information you share on them is unsecured, meaning people other than the intended recipient may be able to access it. How can you be sure if a website's form (the part you fill in) is secure or not?
Look up at your URL bar. The URL bar is where a website's address is displayed on your web browser's window. The text inside usually starts with "http://" See it? Now, go to a website where you need to type in your personal information like a bank's webpage. It's ok, I'll wait. Did you see it? The difference? The URL (URL is the technical name for a website's address) didn't say "http://", it said "https://" The little "s" makes all the difference! S stands for "secure".
When a website's address has that S at the end of "HTTP" it means that that website has special measures in place specifically to ensure that the information you type in to that webpage goes directly to them, and does so in a secure, safe way. While I'll spare you the techno-babble of the "how," just make sure you're more aware of the websites you visit, and their security status.
Practical Tip of the Day:
If, instead of outsiders, you're more concerned with people who share your computer getting your information, consider using your web browser's private browsing settings. Generally called things like "Private Browsing" or "Incognito Mode" (these are examples for Safari and Chrome respectively,) these modes allow you to browse the web without the history being recorded, cookies being saved, and various other tracking methods disabled.
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