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LAS14

(13,749 posts)
Thu Sep 27, 2018, 07:49 AM Sep 2018

www.foxnews.com - "not secure"

I went to foxnews.com to see the story about these men who claim to have attacked Ms. Ford and the URL showed up with Not Secure to the left of www.foxnews.com. I don't remember seeing that in the URL space before. It also took a really long time for the circular arrow to stop spinning. What does "not secure" mean on a web site where I wouldn't enter any information? What was foxnews doing to my computer?

tia
las

6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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www.foxnews.com - "not secure" (Original Post) LAS14 Sep 2018 OP
Not secure means... Takket Sep 2018 #1
Thanks. Isn't it a little odd for a website of their size... LAS14 Sep 2018 #2
A public news site doesn't particularly need to worry about eavesdropping Recursion Sep 2018 #6
SSL mikeysnot Sep 2018 #3
HTTPS Scoopster Sep 2018 #4
If you use Chrome, they just started doing that to sites that don't redirect to SSL Recursion Sep 2018 #5

Takket

(21,425 posts)
1. Not secure means...
Thu Sep 27, 2018, 07:54 AM
Sep 2018

There is something wrong or missing from encryption or security protocols on their end. It doesn’t mean they are doing anything to your computer but does mean the data you share with them can be intercepted by others looking for it.

As long as you are just browsing you are fine. But if you start imputing personal data or passwords you could have them hacked.

Recursion

(56,582 posts)
6. A public news site doesn't particularly need to worry about eavesdropping
Thu Sep 27, 2018, 09:15 AM
Sep 2018

I mean, yes, it's 2018 and best practices say you should only run a website over SSL, but there's nothing particularly private for them to protect.

mikeysnot

(4,755 posts)
3. SSL
Thu Sep 27, 2018, 08:02 AM
Sep 2018

Secure Socket Layer - they do not have a secure certificate on their site? They are 100 bucks a year. All it does is encrypt your communications between web server and your browser.

You site does not really need it but it is being pushed now more than ever. It is best to have them if you are using Forms to post on your site, like you did when you filled in your post.

Scoopster

(423 posts)
4. HTTPS
Thu Sep 27, 2018, 08:34 AM
Sep 2018

I'm dealing with this very subject right now in my own work, so I can provide some guidance. Basically a https prefix means the website has an active security certificate & SSL is enabled. There's also additional rules for what's on the page (like using outgoing links that are also secure whenever possible), and if they're not followed it would mark even an https page as insecure.

I did just check it and they do have https set up, but they also haven't set up a 301 redirect from the old non-secure version and most people still go to that old version, including Google's search index. I haven't checked various pages to see if there's insecure elements lying around.

Recursion

(56,582 posts)
5. If you use Chrome, they just started doing that to sites that don't redirect to SSL
Thu Sep 27, 2018, 09:14 AM
Sep 2018

It's not a "danger" (they're kind of alarmist about it) it just means that an eavesdropper can read or alter the traffic in transit.

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