The padlock isn't meaningless. It means you can submit passwords and credit card details without someone else in the internet cafe sniffing your traffic. The on

The padlock isn't meaningless. It means you can submit passwords and credit card details without someone else in the internet cafe sniffing your traffic. The only thing it doesn't do is it doesn't protect you from MitM (or verify the legal identity of the entity you're talking to). The green EV certificate stuff is what's supposed to tell you that you're safe from MitM and phishing, because you can verify the legal identity of the entity you're talking to. Really the biggest problem is browsers like Chrome that use green padlock/text for DV certs, because that's misleading and either makes people trust the DV certs more than they should, or distrust EV certs. Safari does this much better, using a grey padlock (and no other text) for DV certs, and showing Green padlock + green text for EV certs.