Digital News Report – In an effort to protect Chinese human-rights activists (and others) from hackers looking into their G-Mail accounts, Google has decided to HTTPS as the default to protect users.
“In 2008, we rolled out the option to always use https — encrypting your mail as it travels between your web browser and our servers,” Sam Schillace, Gmail Engineering Director said in a blog. “Using https helps protect data from being snooped by third parties, such as in public wifi hotspots.”
Although choosing HTTPS can slow mail delivery, the encryption will protect the data as ti travels. If you’ve previously set your own https preference from Gmail Settings, nothing will change for your account, Schillace said.
|
