Final answer:
HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, which is a secure version of HTTP. It uses SSL or TLS encryption, and a security certificate needs to be installed on the web server to function.
Step-by-step explanation:
HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, which means that it is a secure version of HTTP. The 'S' at the end of HTTPS indicates that the connection to the website is encrypted using either the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or its successor, Transport Layer Security (TLS). A security certificate, also called an SSL certificate, must be installed on the web server for a website to be able to use HTTPS. This encryption helps protect the privacy and integrity of the data exchanged between the website and the user, safeguarding against eavesdropping and tampering.