CREST Practitioner Security Analyst (CPSA) 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The protocol that commonly uses port 80 is HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol). This protocol is foundational for transferring hypertext requests and information on the internet, enabling the functionality of web pages and online applications. When a web browser is used to access a website without specifying a port number, it automatically defaults to port 80 for HTTP traffic, allowing users to retrieve web content seamlessly.

In contrast, HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) utilizes port 443 to provide a secure version of HTTP, encrypting the data exchanged between the web server and the client. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) operates on different ports, typically 21 for commands and 20 for data transfer. Similarly, SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) commonly uses port 25 for sending emails. Therefore, the identification of port 80 with HTTP is critical in understanding how web traffic is managed and routed on the internet.