Always login using https - Secure Login Helper for Chrome
Password is the key to access all your data. So, keeping your passwords safe is very important. That is why you should always use SSL/https while logging into any website. This week I came across a new tool to help me in this area. It is the 'Secure Login Helper' extension for Google Chrome.
It is a standard practice for websites to use https on the login screens even if they use plain old http to transfer other data. But, strangely, not all websites force you to login using https. And some websites don't even have a secure way to login. When I switched to Google Chrome last week, I came across a very good extension. It is called 'Secure Login Helper'. It will help you login to sites using SSL, if possible. And the best thing about this extension is that it turns the password field color to dark red if it is not using https. So, if you are on a site and about to login using http, you will notice that the password field is red in color. You will immediately know that it is not secure way to login. If that site has https login, you can then immediately choose to login using https.
How will you know if a website you are using supports https or not ? Just add the letter 's' after the http URL to turn it to https and see if the page loads. If the website supports https, you will most probably be now on https page.
After installing this extension, I came to know that there are about 5 websites in my bookmarks (which I use regularly) that have https support that I'm not using. I immediately changed my bookmarks to point to the https login page for these sites. I also found that one of my favorite site doesn't even support https login. I have contacted the website owners to check on the problem.
If you are not using Chrome yet, you should be. If you are, try the 'Secure Login Helper' extension. You will be surprised to find how many websites you use send your password in plain text.



