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It is a sand castle on a private beach owned by you. Have you ever posted a link to your site anywhere? Imagine you sent me a post card saying "Come to my beac

It is a sand castle on a private beach owned by you. Have you ever posted a link to your site anywhere? Imagine you sent me a post card saying "Come to my beach to look at my cool sandcastle" and then when I got there the sandcastle was actually a robot that stole my credit card. You could say that it wasn't your fault - somebody broke into your private beach and replaced the sandcastle. But I would probably still blame you for not securing the area and double-checking the contents before inviting people. Even if I didn't blame you, I probably wouldn't respond to another invitation.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
> and then when I got there the sandcastle was actually a robot that stole my credit card. What kind of moron shows up to see a sandcastle and doesn't think twice about handing over their credit card?
- AndrewStephens 7y ago
  That's the thing with credit card stealing robots - they are nimble and you don't know if they are stealing from you. Likewise, if I go to a website and serves up malware, you don't know it is stealing from you.
enriquto 7y ago
> Imagine you sent me a post card (...) I like this. Post-cards are a better analogy for plain http than the sand castle. Of course postcards are not "secure": everybody can read them, and you can trivially impersonate somebody else sending a postcard. Any serious snail mail communication must go via safer channels. Yet, postcards are a very nice thing to have, it would be a shame if they weren't possible. My kids can easily send a postcard to their grandparents, just by themselves. My grandfathers will probably (but nor surely) receive the postcard, and they will recognize who wrote them (but they can never be sure, really), and everybody will be happy. In the same vein, HTTPS is better than plain HTTP for serious communication, and there's nothing wrong with it. Yet, the existence of HTTP is another fundamental part of the internet, and I make a point of using it as much as possible. Do you propose that anonymous postcards shouldn't exist, and that the post office should only accept letters certified by adults who had identified themselves at the local police station? I would hate that! And for the same reasons I hate a world without http.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago

> and then when I got there the sandcastle was actually a robot that stole my credit card. What kind of moron shows up to see a sandcastle and doesn't think twice about handing over their credit card?

AndrewStephens 7y ago
That's the thing with credit card stealing robots - they are nimble and you don't know if they are stealing from you. Likewise, if I go to a website and serves up malware, you don't know it is stealing from you.

enriquto 7y ago

> Imagine you sent me a post card (...) I like this. Post-cards are a better analogy for plain http than the sand castle. Of course postcards are not "secure": everybody can read them, and you can trivially impersonate somebody else sending a postcard. Any serious snail mail communication must go via safer channels. Yet, postcards are a very nice thing to have, it would be a shame if they weren't possible. My kids can easily send a postcard to their grandparents, just by themselves. My grandfathers will probably (but nor surely) receive the postcard, and they will recognize who wrote them (but they can never be sure, really), and everybody will be happy. In the same vein, HTTPS is better than plain HTTP for serious communication, and there's nothing wrong with it. Yet, the existence of HTTP is another fundamental part of the internet, and I make a point of using it as much as possible. Do you propose that anonymous postcards shouldn't exist, and that the post office should only accept letters certified by adults who had identified themselves at the local police station? I would hate that! And for the same reasons I hate a world without http.