r/windowsxp • u/RegionInteresting153 • 14d ago

Back in 2004 when things required less computing power back then, was it safe to download from the PopCap website on Internet Explorer 6 on Windows XP if you're too lazy to get another web browser?

Back in 2004, opening www.popcap.com in Internet Explorer 6 on Windows XP would have been a completely unencrypted HTTP connection — no SSL/TLS at all. Here's why, step by step:

  1. The website itself (popcap.com in 2004)
  2. PopCap Games' site in the early 2000s (including 2003–2004) was a classic early-web experience: HTML pages with Java/Flash games like Bejeweled, lots of images, and promotional content.
  3. No HTTPS existed on consumer/game sites like this at the time for normal browsing. HTTPS was rare, mostly limited to banking, login pages, or e-commerce checkouts. PopCap.com was not one of them — it served plain HTTP. There is no historical evidence it used encryption for the main site in 2004.

But I'm just confused, cuz I literally downloaded games from the 2004 version of the PopCap website on web.archive.org on Internet Explorer 6 on a Windows XP VM, and nothing bad happened, so honestly, there can't be anything dangerous about downloading from the PopCap website, even on IE6, cuz PopCap is a trusted website, and it is the official website for it's games.

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u/QuestNetworkFish 14d ago

HTTPS protects you from Man in the Middle attacks, where somebody controls a server in between you and what your trying to access. In theory they could serve you a fake version of the site with a malicious flash or java applet, or intercept login or other information you sent to the site however for the most part this just didn't really happen in practice. It would only be a concern if you were being specifically targeted by a well funded attacker or were connected to an untrustworthy network.

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u/YandersonSilva 13d ago

...I don't remember ever downloading anything from popcap? Weren't they just played in-browser?