Facebook makes secure connection the default option

Facebook said secure browsing is now a default option for all users, making it safer for them to connect to the 1-billion member social network.

Now, all users will see “https” instead of “http” at the front of the Web address when they go to Facebook on their browsers. Using HTTPS, which stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, directs users’ browsers to a secure connection, Facebook said in a blog post announcing the change.

Using HTTPS encrypts data transferred between your device and the website you are connecting to. That makes it harder for anyone to intercept or make sense of what you are sending or receiving.

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Facebook made it possible for users to turn on HTTPS on their own two years ago. Since then, more than one-third of their users have enabled the feature, the company said. Facebook has used that time to ensure that its platform is optimized to connect using HTTPS without losing any speed.

The company said that by making HTTPS the default, nearly all Facebook Web traffic and 80% of traffic on its mobile website will flow through a secure connection. The other 20% can’t connect securely because some mobile devices do not support HTTPS connections.

“Turning on https by default is a dream come true, and something Facebook’s Traffic, Network, Security Infrastructure, and Security teams have worked on for years,” Facebook said. “We’re really happy with how much of Facebook’s traffic is now encrypted and are even more excited about the future changes we’re preparing to launch.”

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