Google has just launched the latest version of it's Chrome web browser (version 68 if you want to check the version you are running) and it makes good on their promise back in May to mark all non-HTTPS websites as Not Secure.
This fits in with Google's over-arching strategy to ensure that the entire web is served using secure protocols rather than unencrypted content that most of the web has been doing for years.
To explain this to those of you who are not particularly interested in the word of Hypertext Transfer Protocols, and I'm guessing that that's most of you; web sites are presented to you using HTTP. You'll be familiar with those four little letters at the start of any website you visit (http://). Up until recently, most non-commerce enabled sites used this protocol quite happily to deliver web pages to your browser. If you visited a bank's website or bought something online, you were advised to look for the secure version of this protocol called HTTPS which was often accompanied by the little padlock icon and in some cases, your web browser bar turned green, signalling a secure website.
However, over the last 18 months or so you may have noticed that many websites - even if they are not e-commerce enabled - have been served via HTTPS. For example, if you look at the top of the browser now, our site is served using https:// protocol. This is in response to Google's strategy of "HTTPS everywhere" and ensures that the latest version of Chrome won't mark your site as Not Secure, but also - and probably more of a driver - because Google is actively penalising non-HTTPS websites in their search results.
Previously you had to look out for a secure padlock for the reassurance that the site was encrypted. Google now wants to turn that on it's head and any non-encrypted site will be marked as Not Secure, with encrypted sites being considerd the norm.
Although many sites are now encrypted by default, there are still several site owners that have yet to make the move. Now that Google will mark your site as Not Secure should be encouragement enough to make the switch - the fact that it will also positively affect your search engine ranking makes it a no-brainer.
