Microsoft has recently disclosed its plans to launch automatic HTTPS to its flagship Edge browser. The change will arrive by July 2021 with Edge browser version 92. Microsoft highlights this move will protect users against threats like man-in-the-middle (MiTM) attacks.
Microsoft Edge To Release Automatic HTTPS
Reportedly, Microsoft has revealed its upcoming plan to roll out automatic HTTPS with Microsoft Edge. This step will let the users browse more safely when attempting to visit websites.
Presently, when a user types a web address in the address bar, the Edge browser fetches the results from the popular address, regardless of whether it is HTTP or HTTPS.
This is especially bad for those websites that have upgraded to HTTPS but their HTTP site continues to exist. The insecure HTTP links flooding the web continue to drive the traffic in a vulnerable manner, putting the users at risk of cyber threats.
Hence, to address this problem, Microsoft has started working on the ‘automatic HTTPS’ feature. It will let the Edge browser automatically fetch the HTTPS link of a target website. Whereas, users can also choose HTTPS for all domains.
As stated in their roadmap,
Starting with Microsoft Edge version 92, users will have the option to upgrade navigations from HTTP to HTTPS on domains likely to support this more secure protocol. This support can also be configured to attempt delivery over HTTPS for all domains.
Emphasizing the importance of this step, they further state,
More secure connections help protect customers from man-in-the-middle attacks.
Currently, this feature is in development. Microsoft has scheduled to launch it with the stable release by July 2021, possibly with Edge 92 scheduled for July.
Chrome, Firefox Already Prefer HTTPS
With the present step, Microsoft Edge simply follows the security implementations of other browsers already preferring HTTPS.
Initially, Mozilla launched “HTTPS-Only” with Firefox 83 in November 2020. After that, Google also announced a similar move in March 2021, eventually launching HTTPS by default with Chrome 90 in April.
None of the browsers have entirely abandoned HTTP support. But they have set up their preferences for HTTPS to encourage safe browsing.