MFT Resource Center
HTTPS
What is HTTPS?
HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the world wide web, in which hypertext documents use hyperlinks to other resources that users can click on and visit.HTTPS is its more secure successor and is a request-response protocol using the client-server model. A web browser is typically the client and an application running on a computer hosting a website may be the server.
The client submits an HTTP request message to the server, which responds with a message to the client. The response contains completion status information about the request and may also contain requested content in its message body, such as a webpage. Web crawlers, voice browsers, mobile apps, and other apps can also access web content via HTTPS, acting as clients that access servers.
Age
Development of HTTP was initiated by the famous Tim Berners Lee at CERN in 1989 and developed in a coordinated effort by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), with work later moving exclusively to the IETF.
HTTPS Status and Popularity
HTTPS is used universally and is a critical communications protocol that nearly all other managed file transfer protocols rely upon and use.