cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/3301227
Chrome will be experimenting with defaulting to https:// if the site supports it, even when an http:// link is used and will warn about downloads from insecure sources for “high-risk files” (example given is an exe). They’re also planning on enabling it by default for Incognito Mode and “sites that Chrome knows you typically access over HTTPS”.
If it’s enforced server-side, then there’s still an initial connection that is unsecured and can potentially be intercepted/modified before it gets to the redirect from 80 to 443.