Summary: https is an important step to keeping the information you send and get on the web private. Hotmail uses it for login, but not thereafter.
Why is there a "http" in the address bar as a prefix when I log into Hotmail rather than an "https"? Other email servers' addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) seem to generally have the prefix "httpS" [capitalized for emphasis by me] ("https://www.google.com..." etc.), yet I noticed that Hotmail's reads "http://login.live.com/login..." once I've typed in "www.hotmail.com". Should I feel less safe logging into my Hotmail account rather than my Gmail one since there's no "https"?
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It depends on what you're attempting to protect yourself from, but in general the answer is: yes. There's a slightly higher risk if Hotmail's not using https.
And unfortunately, it appears that for certain common operations Windows Live Hotmail cannot use https at all.
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First, logging in.
When you login to Windows Live Hotmail you'll typically see the Windows Live login page sign in form:
Note the "enhanced security" item I've highlighted. That's actually a link. If you click on it, you'll see the same sign in form, but with this URL displayed in your address bar:
Note that it's https. In fact, it's "enhanced" https, indicated by the green bar naming Microsoft Corporation as the owner.
That's great, and it's safe to assume at this point that your Windows Live Hotmail login information is being encrypted - your username and password are safe from network sniffing.
Then things take a disappointing turn.
Once you login you'll see your address bar return to something like this:
That's not https. It's not encrypted.
That means that while your login information has been encrypted and could not be sniffed, the actual contents of your email as you read and send messages is being transmitted in the clear. Are you reading your Hotmail using an open hotspot in an internet cafe? Anyone within range and with the right software could be reading it along with you.
As I said: disappointing.
As far as I can tell, there's no way Windows Live Hotmail can be coerced to use an https connection for reading.
Contrast that to this option in GMail:
Select that option and no matter how you get to GMail it will always switch to an https connection, encrypting not only your login, but your email as you read and send it.
It's not a trivial problem for Microsoft to solve, but in my opinion, solve it they must. Hotmail just isn't as secure as it should be without it.
The good news is that Windows Live Hotmail's recently released POP3 and SMTP access use encryption, and connections using your desktop email clients are safe from sniffing.
Related:
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Is an https connection really all that safe? https is an important part of keeping your data safe, but it's only a part. It's important to understand what it means and what it doesn't mean.
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How can an https web site still be nonsecure? Surprisingly, it's possible for aspects of an https site to still be nonsecure, if the site is improperly designed. And it's very difficult to tell.
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Are free email services worth it? Free email services and accounts are convenient and ubiquitous. But free email services aren't the right place to keep your important information.
Article C3653 - February 18, 2009
SSL only protects sending receiving the emails from my browser, right? My emails are still not encrypted in Gmail or hotmail mail servers. Also are the emails transfer in encrypted form between email servers?
More to the point, it may also not be encrypted when your recipient views or downloads it depending on their connection settings.
22-Feb-2009
Thanks for the answers. So the SSL thing in Gmail only solves a small part of the problems, my emails are still pretty much not secure. I guess at least having SSL is the first step towards more secure emails. Baby steps...
Posted by: John O at February 22, 2009 6:52 PMThe most unsecure thing for most emails is what the person who receives it does with it. All the security in the world (short of making it unreadable by anyone) is lost if the receiver posts it on many forums.
A lot depends on what you are sending and why somone would want to look at it.
If you are sending bank account information to a trusted receiver, I certainly wouldn't do it from a public computer or via an unencrypted site. If a crook goes to the work to hack into Google's servers he is not likely to find your information among the billions of messages there unless he has some way of knowing what to look for.
Posted by: bill at February 24, 2009 10:42 AMThanks fot the giving the setting for Gmail - so you access it http - I didn't have that selected (I just did it now.) I looked into encrytion for email and cryptainer wasn't bad but the recipient has to have the program as well making that a difficult solution sometimes. I am hoping there will be software in the future that addresses the need for encryption for email.
Posted by: Sandy Smith at February 24, 2009 9:26 PMWhat software do you guys use to encrypt emails?
Leo, do you have any recommendations for email encryption software (preferably free)?
25-Feb-2009
Just an update to my earlier comment... I had to disable "Always use https" for Gmail because I could no longer access Gmail from my Blackberry.
Posted by: Sandy Smith at February 25, 2009 10:51 AMA further update... I kept screwing around with the Blackberry and got it to run Gmail with "always use https." I just kept trying. I recently upgraded my Blackberry OS from 4.2 to 4.5 so that could be why - that OS is relatively new. So, if anybody having trouble just keep trying - keep signing in - keep loading it... it eventually took.
Posted by: Sandy Smith at February 25, 2009 7:12 PMYes, I am having troubles logging on as always. As for as reading all that stuff, takes too much time, would cost too much to print and I still don't understand it anyway. I have had an on-going troubles with my windows live hotmail, such as even now. As it seems a lot of us have had. Some people seem truly, understandably annoyed. Please I wish you'd fix this problem ASAP thank you Naomi Paulette
Reading this stuff takes too much time? Unfortunately using computers requires education of some sort, and that means that yes, you need to read and understand information about the services you're trying to use. While it would be nice if everything "just worked", it's not going to happen. We all need to understand the tools we're using, there's no escaping it.
08-Mar-2009