Google and Mozilla have announced that their browsers will warn users about websites that are vulnerable to hacking.
With Chrome and Firefox’s latest updates (versions 56 and 51, respectively), users will be notified if they’re sending sensitive information over insecure HTTP connections, rather than the safer HTTPS protocol.
Important data that can be compromised under these channels includes login details, passwords and banking information. This functionality has been available in beta versions of the browsers, but is now rolling out for most users.
Previously with Firefox, only a green lock would be shown for a HTTPS connection, with no indication for HTTP connections.
Now, Mozilla has added a grey padlock icon with a red strike through it on HTTP sites which ask users for their passwords. When the lock is clicked on, a message that reads “Logins entered on this page could be compromised” will pop up.
In the past, Chrome also didn’t explicitly label unsafe connections. With the latest update, though, the warning is right in the title bar.
These changes are being introduced following the results of a study published last year, which showed that many users weren’t noticing if some sites were unsafe.
