In general, there's a negligible risk of visiting trusted websites that don't display the green padlock icon. There are still some sites that don't have their websites configured to use HTTPS (which is what triggers the green padlock in Firefox).

Generally speaking, you are fine to visit the websites. The issue is when you send data to the website (logging in, entering payment information, etc.). This is because the website doesn't use SSL to encrypt the data sent to the website.

To explain it in plain non-tech English, SSL is the technology that converts regular text that you can read into jumbled text that only the website can read. This is important because, if you don't do that, cyber attackers could read the data as it's being sent. That's known as a man in the middle attack.

The long and the short of it is, you are usually fine as long as you don't login or send anything to that website. There are some minor risks, but as long as you are not visiting some really sketchy websites from the dark part of the internet, you will generally not have a problem.

As for things like videos and stuff like that, it's the same thing. Usually, there is minimal risk. Stopping the video doesn't matter because the video has already been loaded anyway.

If you want to learn more about the topic, here are some links to some helpful information:

• How do I tell if my connection to a website is secure?
• Mixed content blocking in Firefox
• Meet Encryption by Mozilla on YouTube

Hope this helps.

Hello Wesley.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my thread.

To be clear about Q2, I am referring to viewing news videos that automatically load on 'network news websites'-Should they be stopped or is it safe to play them?

In most cases, it's safe to play them.

If you are worried about making sure that you are only visiting safe websites, I'd personally recommend the Web of Trust add-on. It will tell you the security reputation of the website that you are visiting so that you can steer clear of harmful websites.

Thanks again!

I would not completely trust the opinions of people who can get details of a site wrong due to not bothering to search a little. The reviews however may give a heads up on issues.

For example many of the people reviewing the forums.mozillaZine.org over the years think the mozillaZine.org site is owned by Mozilla Corporation or Mozilla Foundation when it has been independent from the start in 1998. If people got this simple thing wrong then can you really trust WOT. Mozilla has had their own support forum https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/ for a little over a decade or so now. https://www.mywot.com/scorecard/forums.mozillazine.org