diff --git a/depends/packages.md b/depends/packages.md
--- a/depends/packages.md
+++ b/depends/packages.md
@@ -14,8 +14,9 @@
     placeholder such as 1.0 can be used.
 
     $(package)_download_path:
-    Location of the upstream source, without the file-name. Usually http or
-    ftp.
+    Location of the upstream source, without the file-name. Usually http, https
+    or ftp. Secure transmission options like https should be preferred if
+    available.
 
     $(package)_file_name:
     The upstream source filename available at the download path.
diff --git a/depends/packages/bdb.mk b/depends/packages/bdb.mk
--- a/depends/packages/bdb.mk
+++ b/depends/packages/bdb.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package=bdb
 $(package)_version=5.3.28
-$(package)_download_path=http://download.oracle.com/berkeley-db
+$(package)_download_path=https://download.oracle.com/berkeley-db
 $(package)_file_name=db-$($(package)_version).NC.tar.gz
 $(package)_sha256_hash=76a25560d9e52a198d37a31440fd07632b5f1f8f9f2b6d5438f4bc3e7c9013ef
 $(package)_build_subdir=build_unix
diff --git a/depends/packages/fontconfig.mk b/depends/packages/fontconfig.mk
--- a/depends/packages/fontconfig.mk
+++ b/depends/packages/fontconfig.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package=fontconfig
 $(package)_version=2.12.6
-$(package)_download_path=http://www.freedesktop.org/software/fontconfig/release/
+$(package)_download_path=https://www.freedesktop.org/software/fontconfig/release/
 $(package)_file_name=$(package)-$($(package)_version).tar.bz2
 $(package)_sha256_hash=cf0c30807d08f6a28ab46c61b8dbd55c97d2f292cf88f3a07d3384687f31f017
 $(package)_dependencies=freetype expat
diff --git a/depends/packages/freetype.mk b/depends/packages/freetype.mk
--- a/depends/packages/freetype.mk
+++ b/depends/packages/freetype.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package=freetype
 $(package)_version=2.7.1
-$(package)_download_path=http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/$(package)
+$(package)_download_path=https://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/$(package)
 $(package)_file_name=$(package)-$($(package)_version).tar.bz2
 $(package)_sha256_hash=3a3bb2c4e15ffb433f2032f50a5b5a92558206822e22bfe8cbe339af4aa82f88
 
diff --git a/depends/packages/libX11.mk b/depends/packages/libX11.mk
--- a/depends/packages/libX11.mk
+++ b/depends/packages/libX11.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package=libX11
 $(package)_version=1.6.2
-$(package)_download_path=http://xorg.freedesktop.org/releases/individual/lib/
+$(package)_download_path=https://xorg.freedesktop.org/releases/individual/lib/
 $(package)_file_name=$(package)-$($(package)_version).tar.bz2
 $(package)_sha256_hash=2aa027e837231d2eeea90f3a4afe19948a6eb4c8b2bec0241eba7dbc8106bd16
 $(package)_dependencies=libxcb xtrans xextproto xproto
diff --git a/depends/packages/libXau.mk b/depends/packages/libXau.mk
--- a/depends/packages/libXau.mk
+++ b/depends/packages/libXau.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package=libXau
 $(package)_version=1.0.8
-$(package)_download_path=http://xorg.freedesktop.org/releases/individual/lib/
+$(package)_download_path=https://xorg.freedesktop.org/releases/individual/lib/
 $(package)_file_name=$(package)-$($(package)_version).tar.bz2
 $(package)_sha256_hash=fdd477320aeb5cdd67272838722d6b7d544887dfe7de46e1e7cc0c27c2bea4f2
 $(package)_dependencies=xproto
diff --git a/depends/packages/libXext.mk b/depends/packages/libXext.mk
--- a/depends/packages/libXext.mk
+++ b/depends/packages/libXext.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package=libXext
 $(package)_version=1.3.2
-$(package)_download_path=http://xorg.freedesktop.org/releases/individual/lib/
+$(package)_download_path=https://xorg.freedesktop.org/releases/individual/lib/
 $(package)_file_name=$(package)-$($(package)_version).tar.bz2
 $(package)_sha256_hash=f829075bc646cdc085fa25d98d5885d83b1759ceb355933127c257e8e50432e0
 $(package)_dependencies=xproto xextproto libX11 libXau
diff --git a/depends/packages/libxcb.mk b/depends/packages/libxcb.mk
--- a/depends/packages/libxcb.mk
+++ b/depends/packages/libxcb.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package=libxcb
 $(package)_version=1.10
-$(package)_download_path=http://xcb.freedesktop.org/dist
+$(package)_download_path=https://xcb.freedesktop.org/dist
 $(package)_file_name=$(package)-$($(package)_version).tar.bz2
 $(package)_sha256_hash=98d9ab05b636dd088603b64229dd1ab2d2cc02ab807892e107d674f9c3f2d5b5
 $(package)_dependencies=xcb_proto libXau xproto
diff --git a/depends/packages/miniupnpc.mk b/depends/packages/miniupnpc.mk
--- a/depends/packages/miniupnpc.mk
+++ b/depends/packages/miniupnpc.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package=miniupnpc
 $(package)_version=2.0.20180203
-$(package)_download_path=http://miniupnp.free.fr/files
+$(package)_download_path=https://miniupnp.tuxfamily.org/files/
 $(package)_file_name=$(package)-$($(package)_version).tar.gz
 $(package)_sha256_hash=90dda8c7563ca6cd4a83e23b3c66dbbea89603a1675bfdb852897c2c9cc220b7
 
diff --git a/depends/packages/native_cctools.mk b/depends/packages/native_cctools.mk
--- a/depends/packages/native_cctools.mk
+++ b/depends/packages/native_cctools.mk
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 $(package)_sha256_hash=a09c9ba4684670a0375e42d9d67e7f12c1f62581a27f28f7c825d6d7032ccc6a
 $(package)_build_subdir=cctools
 $(package)_clang_version=5.0.1
-$(package)_clang_download_path=http://llvm.org/releases/$($(package)_clang_version)
+$(package)_clang_download_path=https://llvm.org/releases/$($(package)_clang_version)
 $(package)_clang_download_file=clang+llvm-$($(package)_clang_version)-x86_64-linux-gnu-ubuntu-16.04.tar.xz
 $(package)_clang_file_name=clang-llvm-$($(package)_clang_version)-x86_64-linux-gnu-ubuntu-16.04.tar.xz
 $(package)_clang_sha256_hash=005f21861cd2953138df7cf511f1552ef7041bafb7cfc4b172264b7ff5fe09b4
diff --git a/depends/packages/native_cdrkit.mk b/depends/packages/native_cdrkit.mk
--- a/depends/packages/native_cdrkit.mk
+++ b/depends/packages/native_cdrkit.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package=native_cdrkit
 $(package)_version=1.1.11
-$(package)_download_path=http://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/source/600/c
+$(package)_download_path=https://distro.ibiblio.org/fatdog/source/600/c
 $(package)_file_name=cdrkit-$($(package)_version).tar.bz2
 $(package)_sha256_hash=b50d64c214a65b1a79afe3a964c691931a4233e2ba605d793eb85d0ac3652564
 $(package)_patches=cdrkit-deterministic.patch
diff --git a/depends/packages/xcb_proto.mk b/depends/packages/xcb_proto.mk
--- a/depends/packages/xcb_proto.mk
+++ b/depends/packages/xcb_proto.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package=xcb_proto
 $(package)_version=1.10
-$(package)_download_path=http://xcb.freedesktop.org/dist
+$(package)_download_path=https://xcb.freedesktop.org/dist
 $(package)_file_name=xcb-proto-$($(package)_version).tar.bz2
 $(package)_sha256_hash=7ef40ddd855b750bc597d2a435da21e55e502a0fefa85b274f2c922800baaf05
 
diff --git a/depends/packages/xextproto.mk b/depends/packages/xextproto.mk
--- a/depends/packages/xextproto.mk
+++ b/depends/packages/xextproto.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package=xextproto
 $(package)_version=7.3.0
-$(package)_download_path=http://xorg.freedesktop.org/releases/individual/proto
+$(package)_download_path=https://xorg.freedesktop.org/releases/individual/proto
 $(package)_file_name=$(package)-$($(package)_version).tar.bz2
 $(package)_sha256_hash=f3f4b23ac8db9c3a9e0d8edb591713f3d70ef9c3b175970dd8823dfc92aa5bb0
 
diff --git a/depends/packages/xproto.mk b/depends/packages/xproto.mk
--- a/depends/packages/xproto.mk
+++ b/depends/packages/xproto.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package=xproto
 $(package)_version=7.0.26
-$(package)_download_path=http://xorg.freedesktop.org/releases/individual/proto
+$(package)_download_path=https://xorg.freedesktop.org/releases/individual/proto
 $(package)_file_name=$(package)-$($(package)_version).tar.bz2
 $(package)_sha256_hash=636162c1759805a5a0114a369dffdeccb8af8c859ef6e1445f26a4e6e046514f
 
diff --git a/depends/packages/xtrans.mk b/depends/packages/xtrans.mk
--- a/depends/packages/xtrans.mk
+++ b/depends/packages/xtrans.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package=xtrans
 $(package)_version=1.3.4
-$(package)_download_path=http://xorg.freedesktop.org/releases/individual/lib/
+$(package)_download_path=https://xorg.freedesktop.org/releases/individual/lib/
 $(package)_file_name=$(package)-$($(package)_version).tar.bz2
 $(package)_sha256_hash=054d4ee3efd52508c753e9f7bc655ef185a29bd2850dd9e2fc2ccc33544f583a
 $(package)_dependencies=
diff --git a/depends/packages/zlib.mk b/depends/packages/zlib.mk
--- a/depends/packages/zlib.mk
+++ b/depends/packages/zlib.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package=zlib
 $(package)_version=1.2.11
-$(package)_download_path=http://www.zlib.net
+$(package)_download_path=https://www.zlib.net
 $(package)_file_name=$(package)-$($(package)_version).tar.gz
 $(package)_sha256_hash=c3e5e9fdd5004dcb542feda5ee4f0ff0744628baf8ed2dd5d66f8ca1197cb1a1