Netflix Streaming May Be Hampering Internet Encryption

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Only 9% of Netflix traffic is encrypted.

 

Streaming movies and television shows on Netflix could be slowing down the adoption of encryption protocols on fixed access networks.

A report by network policy control platform Sandvine said Americans who watch Netflix content may be inadvertently hampering encryption adoption. According to the 2016 Global Internet Phenomena report, around 9% of all Netflix traffic is encrypted, with the majority of that figure coming from browser-based streaming.

 

Netflix is the biggest driver of peak period traffic on the Internet, which could account for why a typical U.S. network has a reasonably low fixed access encryption rate, Sandvine said. The level of encryption in the U.S. has increased in the last year, with the average network encryption rate rising from 29.1% in 2015 to 37.5% in 2016—which still leaves 61.29% of traffic unencrypted. Ironically, Netflix may be the reason for that increase. Open certificate authority Let’s Encrypt puts encryption rates for the Web at 45% as of June 2016.

 

Sandvine cited remarks made by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings in April 2015 when he said that the streaming service would be transitioning to the more secure HTTPS format from the standard HTTP.

 

“Over the next year we’ll evolve from using HTTP to using Secure HTTP (HTTPS) while browsing and viewing content on our service,” said Hastings, The Verge reported. “This helps protect member privacy, particularly when the network is insecure, such as public Wi-Fi, and it helps protect members from eavesdropping by their ISP or employer, who may want to record our members’ viewing for other reasons.”

YouTube has been using HTTPS for some time with 98% of all traffic now encrypted from end-to-end, said the report.

Why We Should Be Less Chilled About Netflix

The report compared the level of encryption on North American mobile networks to show the importance of HTTPS.

 

 

Fixed access (landline) networks are dominated by unencrypted Netflix traffic, said Sandvine. However, mobile networks do not have the same issues with 64.52% of traffic now encrypted. People use streaming apps while on-the-go, but the passive—and time consuming—nature of video consumption means that people wait until they get home. Content delivery network Akamai notes that total Internet bandwidth use increases in the evening as people come home and stream music and video.

 

As another example of how Netflix’s decision to move to HTTPS will benefit overall encryption adoption rates, Sandvine cited data from network operators in Latin America. On fixed networks in Latin America, just under 60% of all Internet traffic is encrypted. For mobile networks the figure is even higher; 66.48% of data has some form of encryption protocol.

 

The discrepancy between North and Latin America is related to the fact that Netflix has lower bandwidth share in the latter region, with a large chunk of the 30.22% of unencrypted data on mobile networks generated by streaming apps that have not made the transition to HTTPS. Encrypted apps such as Facebook- and Google-owned properties are another reason why encryption levels are higher on fixed networks south of the border, the report said.

 

“This lower Netflix share, combined with higher shares of encrypted traffic from YouTube and BitTorrent explain the vast difference between fixed access figures,” said Sandvine. “While North American fixed access networks currently have the lowest share of encrypted traffic of any around the world, we expect North America to equal and even surpass other regions once Netflix completes their HTTPS transition.”

 

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