Dictionary · Protocols and Ports
HTTP
HTTP — Hypertext Transfer Protocol
Web · Beginner
An application protocol for requesting and transferring resources on the Web. By itself it does not encrypt the request, headers, or body.
Browsers use it to ask a server for a page or to submit a form. Anyone on the path can read a plain session, which is why production sites wrap it in transport encryption.
Picture it
A browser can still request a page. Without transport encryption, anyone on the path can read the headers and the body.
Example: A request line says GET /index.html and the server answers with a status code and the page.
Ports
- TCP 80 — Default cleartext web
Common misconception
- The web transfer protocol and its encrypted form are not two unrelated applications. The encrypted form is the same transfer protocol inside a protected tunnel.