NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES and ATLANTA, Oct. 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Michael Gargiulo, CEO of VPN.com, issued a warning to Fox News CEO, Suzanne Scott, regarding their website: http://www.foxnews.com. In 2018, it is unsafe and unacceptable for any website to offer unsecure HTTP access, especially those with influence. Moving to HTTPS protects the privacy and security of users, the organization’s IT infrastructure and combats fake or malicious content from penetrating a visitor’s session.
“I am a regular reader of Fox News and CNN. I prefer getting stories from both outlets and over the past six months I have watched CNN provide a secure news experience while Fox News failed to adopt this improvement for their readers. Without HTTPS on foxnews.com, it is very possible for hackers to maliciously manipulate a substantial amount of content a visitor interacts with, especially on public WiFi,” Gargiulo said.
This comes just two months after Google warned major content providers about the dangers of unsecured, non-SSL websites and to make the switch to HTTPS immediately. With the release Google Chrome 68, the browser now indicates whether a web page is secure or not in the top left corner of the session. Mozilla Corporation, parent of Firefox Browser, released a report in early 2017 outlining the dangers of HTTP connections, as well.
“I highly doubt Rupert Murdoch, Roger Ailes or any other executives of the $86 billion 21st Century Fox organization would be pleased to know Fox News is not offering a safe and secure news experience to their visitors.”
HTTPS, the secure variant of HTTP, stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure and has become a requirement in modern web development. An SSL certificate allows websites to offer a secure HTTPS connection by providing encrypted authentication between a user’s browser and the associated web server. HTTPS helps keep visitors safe from eavesdropping and tampering with their browsing experience when connected to a particular website.
“With the rise of fake news, privacy issues and politically motivated disinformation, you must secure your news source,” Gargiulo inferred. “It’s an important feature that helps legitimate websites stand out from illegitimate sites while providing visitors with the assurance that the proper safeguards are in place to protect their privacy.”
According to Gargiulo, Fox News isn’t the only offender. “Plenty of other major outlets are not redirecting all HTTP traffic to their respective HTTPS URL,” he explained. “Chief offenders include BBC.com, NFL.com and nearly all of Fox’s local news affiliates. SSL certificates, VPN and encryption are the future of a secure and private internet. Fox News and all of these HTTP websites have some work to do.”
To learn more about how you can fully protect your browsing experience or to find a VPN, please visit: https://www.vpn.com
For media and interview inquiries, please email: pr@vpn.com or visit: https://www.vpn.com/press
To learn more about VPN.com, please visit: https://www.vpn.com/about
About VPN.com
VPN.com is the worldwide leader in Virtual Private Network (VPN) research and statistics. The company has collected 216,000 data points spanning more than 900 VPN providers, giving people the only way to quickly review and compare devices, locations, prices and promo codes across hundreds of VPN services at once. VPN.com’s mission is to help 1 billion people protect their privacy online by 2025. The company aims to accomplish this through transparent research and by fighting for privacy rights across the globe.
See also: VPN.com Puts Netflix CEO Reed Hastings on Notice About Security Risks & VPN Ban
See also: VPN.com Challenging Google Co-founders to $500,000 Hockey Game