Your Browser May Soon Force You To Connect Securely to Government Web Sites

http://bit.ly/1zfNXza In recent years many tech companies have taken an extra step to protect the privacy of their users by having their services default to encryption, which is signified by a little lock icon in most browsers and the changing of HTTP at the beginning of a Web address to HTTPS. The encryption creates a sort of digital tunnel between a user and a Web site -- blocking prying eyes from being able to see or manipulate the data as it is transmitted around the world. Without HTTPS, anyone who has access to traffic between a user and the Web site they are visiting can potentially collect data on the user's online activities, or even change the data that either the visitor or Web site receives without their knowledge. "HTTP is like an open postcard you send through the mail," explained Eric Mill, who works at 18F -- an organization under the umbrella of the General Services Administration that focuses on improving the digital delivery of government services. Using HTTPS, he told The Washington Post, is like sending "a locked briefcase through the mail that only you and a recipient can unlock." http://wapo.st/1L2L7na