Address Bar problems

Hi,

I've posted here before and you are very helpful. I'm not sure what "category" this thread belongs to so I'm posting here - hope this is okay.

For some reason today, one of our computers started opening all of the websites in https when normally they are only in http: (for example - yahoo). even when we manually type http://website.com, it comes up as https. Any ideas?:confused

 

Just wanted to add that it hasnt always been like this and even changes things like "yahoo" which is our home page at http:\\yahoo.com to https:\\yahoo.com. We haven't changed any settings.

 

You may have gotten a browser hijacker AND since all sites open to https someone may be looking for passwords.

Head over to the Malware Removal Forums and go through Read and Run Me First and post a new thread there.

 

Thank you , I'm actually running thru the steps in the Read Me First thread. I will let you know how it goes.

 

There is a browser extension called HTTPS Everywhere that produces exactly that behavior. It's a security feature.
Check to see if this is installed on the computer.

HTTPS Everywhere

There is also an addon called Open Secure, but it works differently.

Open Secure: Open Links Over The HTTPS Protocol In Firefox

 

HTTPS means that your connection to said website is encrypted. This is standard for banking and other e-commerce websites but now
many websites are now going to a secure connection by default, like Google and Yahoo, which the OP gave as an example.
An overview: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/encryption4.htm

 

So, would it be in my program file list? Or would it be located somewhere else and if so, how do I find it? BTW - this just started happening yesterday - before that it was just the normal http:

 

Not sure if I am missing something, but the https lead for a website indicates that the site is encrypted. I believe the "s" stands for secure, meaning this is a security issue.

Here is how it is described by Google using the Google search "what is https":

Yahoo! apparently now uses secure servers with all their information encrypted. I imagine this is to stop data theft...

Just for the record, the Yahoo! bookmark in my browser also directs to the https address...

 

Thank you - that explains a lot. don't know why it just kicked in yesterday but if others have the same, that is a good thing.