Signed HTTP exchanges work by allowing content publishers to sign HTTP exchanges. Using this they can be served through any caching server. This makes it possible for browsers to load that signed resource from any server and displays the URL of the original editor in the address bar.
As detailed on the SXG source test page Signed HTTP Exchange ( SXG) is a subset of the emerging technology called Web Packages, which allows publishers to make their content portable in a secure manner. It is available for redistribution by third parties, maintaining the integrity and attribution of the content. In accordance with the initiative of the AMP Project, signed exchanges provide a guarantee through the use of cryptographic signatures, that the content is exactly what the editor intended to show the user.
Allow the browser to treat a document as belonging to the Publisher’s Origin. This allows an editor to use own cookies to personalize the content, execute service workers and measure the analysis. According to Origin Trial Feedback, Cloudflare and DigiCert already incorporated support for signed HTTP exchanges on their platforms. While Protocol Labs is already performing experiments with Signed Exchange on IFPS peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol. According to Protocol Labs, Google is promoting work in ‘Web Packaging’ to resolve MITM (also known as “mis-attribution problem”) of the AMP Project.
Signed HTTP exchanges (SXG) undo the origin of the content from who distributes it. The content can be published on the web, without depending on a server, connection or specific hosting service, which is very relevant for IPFS, since it is perfect for distributing immutable packages. In addition, the implementation of Cloudfare will allow AMP caches to serve content under their origin URL.
On January 23, as part of the ongoing efforts of the Chrome team, a signed draft of the Internet Draft was also posted on the IETF website. The SXG feature will be available on Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome OS, and Android. In addition, the trial version of Origin for this feature is already in progress on Chrome 71 platforms for desktop and Android computers.