Secure, Not Secure, and Dangerous on Google Chrome: What it Means
- Ayaan Haque

- Jul 4, 2020
- 2 min read
So when you visit most websites on Google Chrome, you'd see this:

You notice that little padlock symbol next to the website name? That means the website is secure. Most websites you see will have this, and this means all of your information (for example, log ins, payments, and small things even I can see on Google Analytics like your location and browser and even your screen resolution. Yep.) Still, be careful about entering important information onto these websites, cause even it can be a scam website. These will be an impostor of another website like a bank website, and make you enter information. For example, bankofamerican.com. I'm not sure if this is real or not, but they could put an extra "n" to make you think it really is bankofamerica.com. Another way to find if a website is secure (this will work on non-chrome browsers) is if you see the full website address it will show "https://". If it shows anything different than that (even by a bit) then it is not completely secure.
Next up is "Not Secure":

Once again, Chrome will show "Not Secure" next to the website. This means people may be able to see what you're looking at and basically intercept the connection between your device and the website. You can still visit the website, just don't enter any information. Here's the description:
The site isn't using a private connection. Someone might be able to see or change the information you send or get through this site.
On some sites, you can visit a more secure version of the page:
Select the address bar.
Delete http://, and enter https:// instead.
If that doesn't work, contact the site owner to ask that they secure the site and your data with HTTPS.Finally, there's full out "Dangerous". This is serious. So Google has a whole directory on how safe a website is, which Chrome will use if you visit a website listed as dangerous on the directory. Here's the link, more on it later: https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search?hl=en.
Chrome will literally stop your device from visiting the website and show a full screen warning page. Here's a pic:

If you see this, don't continue. Seriously. These websites will likely install a virus, Trojan horse, or steal your info. There are ways to get past it if you know for sure this is a safe website, but i'd be careful. If your uncomfortable with a website you can go to the transparency report above and enter the URL of the website. Then it will say whether it's good or not. Nowadays, be careful about everything you do online. I really don't know why i'm posting this. I guess it's just interesting?





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