Reprinted with permission From:
"F.Y.I. 05/20/99" by Hugh Brecher,M.A.
Executive Director, The Association Of Ethical Internet Professionals
"Being a cautious shopper I am very wary of web businesses that do not provide secure servers for the processing of private credit card information. Actually I'm more than wary. I simply won't do business with web sites that don't provide protection of my credit card and other personal information.
"Secure servers use SSL (Secure Socket Layers) encryption (coding) of customer information so that customer information is protected against theft by hackers or other ill intentioned people who can easily steal information that lacks the protection given by secure servers. The "web" functions very much like a spider web, or like a fishnet, with every intersection connected to every other intersection by several or many others. Information (words, pictures) travel at light speed from any point on the web to any other point. At ANY of these points the information can be intercepted and copied. If the data is well encrypted the risk of theft is virtually zero. Web transactions without such protection can be very risky.
"As web customers we should all avoid providing our private financial and other data (SS#) over non-secure servers. Owners of web businesses should be sure to provide secure SSL servers to host all such private transactions. Providing secure servers is important and materially adds to the credibility of a web business.
RECOGNITION:
"Recognizing secure servers is pretty easy. There are two visible indicators that you are on a secure site:
- The URL for a secure server begins with "https://" rather than just "http://". The letter "s" is for "secure".
- Your browser shows a small icon of a padlock or key. If the padlock is in the open position or the key is broken, the site is not secure. Closed padlocks and solid keys indicate that you are on a secure server."
