Saturday, July 3, 2010

https://Encrypted.Google.com

Like searching on Google, but want extra security? Just head over to https://Encrypted.Google.com. It is the same Google search, just with an extra layer of security. This will slow down the search results to some degree, but unless you have a very slow connection you may not even notice it.

http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=173733&hl=en

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What can I expect from search over SSL?


Here's how searching over SSL is different from regular Google search:

  • SSL encrypts the communication channel between Google and a searcher's computer. When search traffic is encrypted, it can't be read by third parties trying to access the connection between a searcher's computer and Google's servers. Note that the SSL protocol does have some limitations — more details are below.


  • As another layer of privacy, SSL search turns off a browser's referrers New window icon. Web browsers typically turn off referrers when going from HTTPS to HTTP mode to provide extra privacy. By clicking on a search result that takes you to an HTTP site, you could disable any customizations that the website provides based on the referrer information.

  • At this time, search over SSL is supported only on Google web search. We will continue to work to support other products like Images and Maps. All features that are not supported have been removed from the left panel and the row of links at the top. You'll continue to see integrated results like images and maps, and clicking those results will take you out of encrypted search mode.

  • Your Google experience using SSL search might be slightly slower than you're used to because your computer needs to first establish a secure connection with Google.

  • ...

    Does SSL provide complete security?



    While SSL helps prevent intermediary parties, such as ISPs, from knowing the exact search that you typed, they could still know which websites you visit once you click on the search results. For example, when you search over SSL for [ flowers ], Google encrypts the query "flowers" and the results that Google returns. But when you click on a search result, including results like images and maps, you could be exiting the encrypted mode if the destination link is not on https://.

    If your computer is infected with malware or a keylogger, a third party might still be able to see the queries that you typed."

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