Washington Post starts to automatically encrypt part of Web site for visitors

The Washington Post will begin encrypting parts of its Web site June 30, making it more difficult for hackers, government agencies and others to track the reading habits of people who visit the site.

The added security will immediately apply to The Post's homepage as well as stories on the site's national security page and the technology policy blog The Switch. The encryption will roll out to the rest of the site over the coming months. "The biggest gain is letting users feel secure," said Shailesh Prakash, the company's chief information officer. Most browsers will note the added security with a display icon, a small lock, in the Web address bar. Secure sites also start with the letters "https" rather than "http." (The S is for secure.)