hxxp://, sometimes h**p://, is used in URLs (web links) to obscure the fact that one is linking to a http:// web site. It is generally used to avoid automatic recognition by computer programs. For a user to follow this link, it is usually necessary to manually copy-paste the link onto the web browser's address bar and replace the 'x'es with 't's. With Internet Explorer (including version 7), replacing the X's is not necessary, as it will translate the URL into the correct prefix ()