HTTPS Becomes Default For Google Chrome For Added Security. Google has been testing HTTPS as the default protocol for all URLs a user types into the address bar. Those who have been experimenting with Chrome’s latest Canary build have already seen the new feature in action, and the company has decided to forge ahead.
In the next stable release, Google will formally incorporate it into Chrome’s browser experience. Android users can expect to see it when they update to version 90, releasing on April 13. The iOS rollout is later this year.
This is all a part of Google’s ongoing effort to bolster safety on the internet. In this specific instance, the goal is to thwart “man in the middle” attacks that see hackers intercept unencrypted web traffic and either steal data or inject malicious code into the data stream.
Chrome team members Shweta Panditrao and Mustafa Emre Acer explain further:
“Chrome will now default to HTTPS for most typed navigations that don’t specify a protocol. For sites that don’t yet support HTTPS, Chrome will fall back to HTTP when the HTTPS attempt fails (including when there are certificate errors, such as name mismatch or untrusted self-signed certificate, or connection errors, such as DNS resolution failure).”
If you want to test the upcoming HTTPS feature before it reaches the stable channel, you can do so by enabling the ‘experimental’ flag. Just go to: chrome://flags/#omnibox-default-typed-navigations-to-https
And enable the option to have HTTPS as the default navigation protocol. You’ll also have the option to choose either a 3-second or a 10-second timeout to give the browser enough time to determine the availability of the HTTPS URL.
This is an unquestionably good change. Kudos to Google. We’re looking forward to seeing it in the stable release.
