Google has been one of the top internet companies all along when it comes to providing its users with a highly secure environment. Google uses HTTPS protocol to provide protection to the users. The HTTPS protocol is used when the users log in to several Google applications. The HTTPS protection is provided only during the log in process. Once you are into the application, you are left to your own vices with regard to online safety and security.
Now Google has taken in to consideration the risk factors involved and the vulnerability of its users. Now Google has expanded its HTTPS security to the entire email application Gmail. For many people Gmail is their regular email and some people use Gmail as their official email address because of the free space and the features it provides. This calls for Google’s attention to provide the users with better online security while using Gmail. HTTPS is used in shopping carts when the credit card information is shared by the user with the company’s website. This ensures that there are no intruders while the data is transmitted.
Since Gmail users make use of this free mail facility for many important communications and send sensitive data, Google has expanded its protection beyond the signing in protocol. Usage of HTTPS protocol will slowdown the operations and for that reason Google did not use the HTTPS protocol for the entire email application. Now with the increasing security concerns Google has expanded its security protection through HTTPS protocol to the entire email application. Now Gmail users can rest assured that their emails are safely transmitted on the web.
Google is checking the feasibility of offering the Gmail users HTTPS protection as a default function. It is not common for the web service providers to offer HTTPS protection free of cost and certainly it is completely new to free email services.
Google in one of its blog posts states that, “We know HTTPS is a good experience for many power users who’ve already turned it on as their default setting. And in this case, the additional cost of offering HTTPS isn’t holding us back. But we want to more completely understand the impact on people’s experience, analyze the data, and make sure there are no negative effects. Ideally we’d like this to be on by default for all connections, and we’re investigating the trade-offs, since there are some downsides to HTTPS — in some cases it makes certain actions slower.”
Google will sample different types of Gmail users with default HTTPS protection before it fully extended the protection to all. They will try to get answers for their own feasibility questions. Google while it is concerned about providing its email users with the best online security possible, at the same time it does not want to compromise on the quality of the user experience.