"https"

I've noticed that my browser on my computer at work is constantly, and mysteriously, adding the "s" into URL's. It seems to happen there more than at home and I'm just curious if anyone knows what causes this. It doesn't occur on any particular site and seems to happen quite randomly and often. And when it happens, the "This Page Cannot Be Displayed" message comes up until I remove the "s." And lastly, it seems to happen more when I access a recently visited site from the browser URL drop-down box.

 

's' is for secure.

 

But why does it automatically insert itself and prevent me from viewing the page I'm trying to access unless I delete the "s?"

 

Are you clicking on a link with the 's'? Are you typing the 's'? I know these are dumb questions.

 

No, like I previously said, it seems to be happening when I click on a recently visited site from the URL dropdown box and they do not appear with the "s" inside the dropdown box. But once I click on them, the "s" seems to insert itself. Doesn't happen on all the sites and doesn't happen all the time but happens enough that I notice it enough to inquire about it on here. Not really a big deal or even an inconvenience. Just an odd occurence that I can't get to the bottom of.

 

The s gets put there becuase you are viewing a secure site, such as one that processes credit cards or something that requires a more secure environment. I am guessing that if you remove the s and hit enter it sort of corrects itself when the page is sent to your browser. Think of it as making it easier to successfully reach that page. Since most people aren't used to typing the "s" it is set up to work even if you don't include the "s". Did that make any sense?

 

What appears to be happening is that you are hitting the partial URL of a secure site that you already visited. For instance, you may have previously gone to https://secure.yahoo.com/shoppingcart/order.cgi, an address which resolves correctly. The browser's dropdown of recent sites only shows secure.yahoo.com, and when you select that it first inserts the https:// and then routes you to a truncated URL that cannot resolve. Notice that it doesn't tell you that the server is unavailable, only that the page cannot be displayed.