HTTP
The World Wide Web, however, is a network of servers that connect to each other through the existing Internet connections. People must publish information to a Web server before anyone can access it on the World Wide Web, and users need special software called a browser to connect to those servers and view their content.
A separate protocol—hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)—creates connections between the user’s computer and the Web server as well as between the Web servers themselves. HTTP controls the transfer of any kind of file (e.g., text, documents, spreadsheets, pictures, sounds, and movies) between computers, and it allows users to move from one file to the next by simply selecting a link in the first file.
A sister protocol is HTTPS, where the S stands for “secure.” It performs exactly the same tasks that the HTTP protocol performs, but it has an extra task of encrypting data before it is sent over the Internet, as well as decrypting data received by your computer over an encrypted connection. It is always a good idea to check for the HTTPS protocol at the beginning of a URL in the browser’s address box before sending sensitive information like a password, account information, or even personal e-mail through a Web page. If you don’t see the HTTP prefix at all in the address bar, look for a small icon of a closed lock instead.