The current best practice is that every website must be accessed with HTTPS. Gone are the days when it was okay to transmit unencrypted information over the internet. That old model is susceptible to problems such as man-in-the-middle attacks, and other threats.
Using SSL and HTTPS means that connections over the internet are authenticated and encrypted. The encryption is good enough to keep out all but the most advanced of snoops, and the authentication means we are assured the website is what it says it is. HTTPS uses the HTTP protocol but is encrypted using SSL, or Secure Sockets Layers. Implementing HTTPS requires getting an SSL certificate and implementing HTTPS support in the web server or web application.
Given a suitable SSL certificate, Node.js applications can easily implement HTTPS because a small amount of code gives us an HTTPS server. But there's another route that offers an additional benefit. NGINX is...
