The world's most popular social network recently implemented an additional layer of security by migrating to https by default. That means that almost all users visiting Facebook via the web or over mobile will now do so through a secure connection, putting them on par with native apps for Android and iOS that have long used https.
Infrastructure engineer Scott Renfro penned a post on Facebook's official blog to explain the change. He points out that https uses Transport Layer Security (TLS), previously known as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), which makes the connection between a user's browser and Facebook's servers more secure.
Secure browsing on Facebook isn't new as the option has been around for two years. Users had to enable it in the settings menu, however. Surprisingly more than a third of users did just that according to Facebook's own admission.
Renfro described enabling https by default as a dream come true. The company's traffic, network, security infrastructure and security teams have worked on making it a reality for years and they are happy with the amount of traffic that is now encrypted. What's more, Renfro said they are even more excited about future changes they are preparing to launch.
True enough, a secure connection will go a long way in preventing man-in-the-middle attacks as well as eavesdropping attacks - just a couple of methods that malicious individuals use to gain unauthorized access to a person's Facebook account.