What HTTPS Actually Does to Keep Your Data Private (opens in new tab)

The padlock icon in your browser has become shorthand for “safe.” It means so little that phishing sites now use it routinely. Google’s Transparency Report has shown that HTTPS adoption is near-universal across the web, yet breaches keep happening. The certificate, the thing everyone points to, is the least interesting part of the story. Here is what actually protects your data. 1. The Certificate Proves Identity, Nothing Else A TLS certificate does one job: it tells your browser that the ser...