Google Makes Https Protocol the Default in Gmail

Posted 01/13/2010 at 12:49pm | by Bart Salisbury

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It’s not just the pebble tossed in a pond that has an impact. So to do the ripples the pebble creates. The recent cyber-attack on Google, originating in China, is more a boulder in a pond, so the consequent ripples are going to be profound. For starters, Google has decided to shore-up the security of Gmail, and will set the default for all Gmail users to the https protocol.

Use of https by Gmail users has been an option since 2008. Google’s Gmail blog says it’s a matter of speed versus security, with https being more secure because mail is encrypted while traveling between browser and server, but slower for the same reason. You, the end-user, got to make the choice. But now that things are getting nasty, Google sees some wisdom in setting the default to the more secure setting.

Google isn’t going to force you to use https if you don’t want to. You can opt out by changing your Gmail browser connection setting to “Don’t always use https”. Google will still retain encryption on the Gmail login page, however, so your password remains protected.

Image Credit: Google