Google to ditch Chrome’s HTTPS padlock icon as it seems irrelevant

Image credit : Search Engine Journal The widespread use of secure, encrypted HTTPS connections is one of the largest developments in web security in the last ten years or more. More of your credentials and data are protected from being collected even while you're on public or insecure networks thanks to HTTPS connections, which were once limited to banking and shopping websites. A little padlock icon has been used by browsers dating all the way back to Internet Explorer to indicate that a connection is utilizing HTTPS. However, the Chromium browser engine's developers claim that the majority of people are still unaware of the true significance of the padlock icon. Due to this confusion and the fact that HTTPS is now required for the majority of websites, Chromium will discontinue use of the padlock icon beginning with Chrome 117, which will be released in September along with a more extensive redesign of the Chrome interface. "Replacing the lock icon with a neutral indicator prevents the misunderstanding that the lock icon is associated with the trustworthiness of a page, and emphasizes that security should be the default state in Chrome," reads a Chromium blog post from the Chrome security team. The "tune" icon, which consists of a few circles and a few lines to resemble the toggle switches you see in many Settings windows, will replace the padlock icon in desktop versions of Chrome. The site's HTTPS certificate and a few other site-specific settings, such as those for notifications and location sharing, are still available when you click the Tune icon. The lock icon will change, but the functionality of the menu will remain the same. In current versions of Chrome, you may access all of these features by clicking the padlock icon. [caption id="attachment_168964" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Image credit : Bleeping Computer[/caption] "Our research has also shown that many users never understood that clicking the lock icon showed important information and controls," the blog post continues. "We think the new icon helps make permission controls and additional security information more accessible, while avoiding the misunderstandings that plague the lock icon."