Re:HTTPS Deployment Growing by Leaps and Bounds
by QuadrupleA on Friday December 23, 2016 @12:10PM
(#13245823)
So should we all browse through a Tor relay when we're looking at cat pictures? Maybe a new protocol can be invented that allows websites to force us to use one? I tend to dislike these dogmatic rules - you have to be aware of the particulars of your situation and design a solution that fits that. For a lot of sites HTTPS seems to me like overkill. If the environment changes where ISPs are routinely injecting ads etc. into your content streams maybe always-HTTPS will make sense, but the cases of that at this point in time seem relatively rare, not worth wrapping the entire internet in an unneeded software layer.
Re:HTTPS Deployment Growing by Leaps and Bounds
by ecnahc515 on Friday December 23, 2016 @12:41PM
(#13246008)
Actually, yes. Most tor users would be greatful if you used tor to browse cat pics, as it strengthens the entire network by having more people using it.
Re:HTTPS Deployment Growing by Leaps and Bounds
by derf_ on Friday December 23, 2016 @03:49PM
(#13247163)
> but the cases of that at this point in time seem relatively rare
What, like the largest US mobile carrier injecting supercookie tracking headers into every unencrypted HTTP request? [1]
Yeah, I guess that's only 144 million people.
The fight isn't about a hacker stealing your passwords. The fight is about every single entity on the Internet being hostile towards user privacy with a strong monetary and power incentive to use any and every inch you give them to take a mile. So let's not give them any inches. Encrypt everything using the strongest cipher suites available and the best methods of identity verification we have. It may not be enough, but it's better than giving up and letting the baddies win without a fight.
And to clarify before the inevitable reply points out that HTTPS isn't sufficient by itself to protect user privacy. Yes, I understand that. But it's an important basic building block for doing so.