Google Chrome Begins Stronger HTTPS Warnings

Chrome 68 began marking ordinary HTTP pages as “Not secure” in July 2018. This reversed an older browser convention in which secure HTTPS sites received a special positive indicator while unencrypted sites looked normal.

HTTPS uses TLS to encrypt traffic and authenticate the server through certificates. Without it, anyone able to observe or modify the network path can potentially read or alter web traffic. Free certificates from Let’s Encrypt and automated deployment had removed much of the practical excuse for staying on HTTP.

Changing the browser UI was powerful because it changed user expectations. Encryption stopped being a special feature for banking pages and became the default standard for the web. Browser vendors used interface pressure to accelerate a security migration across millions of sites.