OT: browser message- what’s this mean. ?, Not Secure - 914World.Com - Private. Options

[jim_hoyland]

What’s this mean about not secure / private. ?
Seems like I have to log in every time now ??

[GregAmy]

OK, I'm a geek. Ok, I'll offer an explain (and other geeks, please insert).

SSL, Secure Sockets Layer. It means the conversation betwen you and the forum is encrypted. Which means someone casually (or intentionally - are you going through a divorce?) can "tap" the line and watch your conversation.

Same kinda idea as the old deal with POTS when you could put two alligator clips on an analog phone line with a speaker and listen into a conversation. But with SSL, all you would hear is a bunch of screeches and howls instead of human conversation.

It's standard practice for web sites to have an SSL cert(ificates). It's not hard but if you're running old shit and you really don't give a crap about the conversation, then it's really not that important. Both cases apply here.

We could beat on Andy to make it happen. And there's a lot of talent here that could make it happen. But is it worth the effort? And the money? Not really.

On Chrome you'll get the warning below, knowing that anything and everything you do on the forum can be "tapped". Including your password exchange (follow the password advice above). But really, other than the password (follow the password advice above) all this information is being "crawled" by "spiders" anyway, and getting tossed into a large database (search Googles and the Internet Archive if you don't believe me) so it's really not that important.

So yup, your conversation is not encrypted. And in the reality of things, it's not important.

Enjoy.