Microsoft recently announced that its flagship Edge browser will support automatic HTTPS. With Edge browser version 92, the upgrade will be available by July 2021. This move, according to Microsoft, would protect users from threats such as man-in-the-middle (MiTM) attacks.
Launch of Automatic HTTPS
According to reports, Microsoft has announced its plans to carry out automatic HTTPS with Microsoft Edge in the near future. Users will be able to browse more securely as a result of this measure.
When a user types a web address into the address bar, the Edge browser retrieves the results from the most popular web address, regardless of whether it is HTTP or HTTPS.
This is particularly problematic for websites that have migrated to HTTPS but still have an HTTP site. The unreliable HTTP links that are saturating the internet continue to send traffic in a vulnerable manner, exposing users to cyber threats.
As a result, Microsoft has begun work on the ‘automatic HTTPS’ feature to fix this problem. It will allow the Edge browser to automatically fetch a target website’s HTTPS link. Users, on the other hand, can select HTTPS for all domains.
According to Microsoft’s roadmap,
“Starting with Microsoft Edge version 92, users will have the option to upgrade navigations from HTTP to HTTPS on domains likely to support this more secure protocol. This support can also be configured to attempt delivery over HTTPS for all domains.”
Underlining the crucial aspect of this step, Microsoft stated
“More secure connections help protect customers from man-in-the-middle attacks.”
This function is currently being developed. Microsoft plans to release the stable version in July 2021, likely with Edge 92.
HTTPS is Preferred by Chrome and Firefox
Microsoft Edge is actually following the security implementations of other browsers that already prefer HTTPS.
In November 2020, Mozilla released Firefox 83, which included “HTTPS-Only.” Following that, Google announced a similar change in March 2021, with Chrome 90 releasing HTTPS by default in April.