> If you request a carrot cake recipe but receive a modified recipe that uses arsenic instead of carrots.. Without https, this kind of thing can easily happen

> If you request a carrot cake recipe but receive a modified recipe that uses arsenic instead of carrots.. Without https, this kind of thing can easily happen I can easily get struck by lightning when I go outside in the rain. I can easily get eaten by mountain lions who break out of their cages when I go to the zoo. There being a one in ten million chance of something happening doesn't dismiss all of the valid concerns the linked article raises. The importance of HTTPS' added security is something for both the host and user to consider. The host can choose not to implement it, and the user can choose not to trust/view the data if they have even the slightest possible reason to believe their data might be modified maliciously in transit; or tracked for some sort of profiling that they want to avoid. As it stands, I'm weary about accessing any Chinese servers without HTTPS; but I'm not at all concerned about my ISP or government MITM'ing my connections to Ars Technica for nefarious purposes. Nor do I care in the slightest if my ISP knows I read a story there about Norway planning to drop FM radio transmissions.