Google has said it will start notifying its users when they access an HTTP website. It will indicate to the user, starting with the release of Chrome 68 in July this year, that the website is “not secure” – a signal to developers that they are better off switching to the secure HTTPS network.

“Chrome’s new interface will help users understand that all HTTP sites are not secure, and continue to move the web towards a secure HTTPS web by default,” said a Google statement.

The threat of a third-party accessing the exchange of information between the user’s browser and the website is real, and use of the encrypted HTTPS helps keep lurkers away.

Google has made much progress in this area already. Over 81 of the top 100 sites have already made the switch to HTTPS. Over 68 per cent of Chrome traffic on both Android and Windows is now protected, said the multinational technology company in a blog.

“Chrome is dedicated to making it as easy as possible to set up HTTPS,” said Google. Developers can make use of the company’s open-source Lighthouse tool to migrate to HTTPS.