“Page Is Not Safe”— What’s The Risk For Me?

You might have seen the infamous “page is not safe” when visiting a website. You might be wondering what does it mean?

Now, let’s say you must access that webpage and see the contents behind it; in that case, what are the risks and how worse could it really be for your online security?

To put it quickly, a page that is not safe means any info that you put on that website, or can be gathered about you from your visit, can be easily intercepted. By the hackers. Trackers. Or Third-party organizations.

That’s your name, email, credit card information, or even residential address. All exposed!

What Does It Mean When You Get A Page Is Not Safe Warning?

The reason that you see this warning is because the website isn’t using the HTTPS protocol (more on that later). To put it simply, the connection between the website and your web browser is not encrypted; therefore, all your data: passwords, emails, activities, the whole 9 yards – are all wide open for hackers to steal.

What Is HTTPS And How Does It Make A Webpage Secure?

First, we have the HTTP (without the ‘s’) which is a protocol, or a method, for transmitting data over the internet. You see, whatever you see when you visit a page on the internet is just information stored on another computer (aka the server) anywhere in the world.

Which, btw is the idea behind cloud hosting services – they offer these servers to store your data, which you can use to display to your visitors or use in any other way you like. These hosting services also allow you to leverage computational resources such as CPUs, GPUs, RAMs, Hard Drives, etc., all remotely – without you needing to build physical in-house servers or IT departments.

Now, coming back to the S in the HTTPS. Of course, you can’t have your data openly flowing across the internet. With HTTPS, you get an encryption protocol called SSL (secure socket layer), just so your data is private and can’t be intercepted by third parties.

What Are The Risks Of Visiting A Page That Is Not Safe?

Let’s say you really need to visit a website that has been warning you of an unsafe connection, so what risks are you exposing yourself to?

Glad you asked that question.

By now, you know your data is exposed, but specifically what kind of data?

• If you’re signing up on something on that website, say, you used your primary email. Well, your inbox will be filled with spams and phishing attacks now.

• If you used the password, that you used on your other socials, accounts, or anywhere else. Well, that’s exposed too now.

• And God Forbid, you entered your credit card information… The hackers may even exploit that information for fraudulent transfers… yikes!

Other than that, your PC (or phone, whichever you are using to visit the unsafe page) might also be susceptible to malware. Meaning, the information on your other websites or even the password manager is also exposed now.

If you still want to visit the unsafe website, the safer option is – just don’t. Or at least, use a VPN and browse in incognito.

And no, the incognito mode isn’t truly private. If you want to know what’s truly private, it is the virtual machines, such as those offered by cloud hosting services.

Summing It Up – Visiting A Not Safe Page Is Worth It?

You know better than to visit an unsafe page, there are plenty of risks involved. But, now, you are also sure that under no circumstances that you must fill in any personal information on the webpage that is not safe.

Because all that information is exposed and you might even risk exposing information on other pages as well as your personal system.

In that case, and if you must really visit the unsafe page, use a VPN and browse truly in incognito mode.