Google enables search encryption by default

Google has turned on encrypted search by default. The tech giant announced in a blog post Tuesday that users, over the next few weeks, will be automatically directed to https://www.google.com when they sign into their accounts. The secure channel will help protect search terms and results pages from being intercepted by a third party. As a result, websites won't have access to each individual search query that drives traffic to their site, but they still will be able to view a list of the top 1,000 queries via Google Webmaster Tools. Users wanting to send their individual search entry to advertisers, so they can improve their campaigns, can opt to still do so by clicking on an ad appearing on the search results page.

More in News

Privacy-bolstering "Apps Act" introduced in House

The bill would provide consumers nationwide with similar protections already enforced by a California law.

Microsoft readies permanent fix for Internet Explorer bug used in energy attacks

Microsoft is prepping a whopper of a security update that will close 33 vulnerabilities, likely including an Internet Explorer (IE) flaw that has been used in targeted website attacks against the U.S. government.

Weakness in Adobe ColdFusion allowed court hackers access to 160K SSNs

Up to 160,000 Social Security numbers and one million driver's license numbers may have been accessed by intruders.