Staying Safe Online

Would you shout your credit card number out to a room full of strangers? Probably not. But if you aren't being diligent about the data you're giving out online then you may very well be unintentionally handing out your important information to unintended people.

There are two ways in which you are able to view a web page. Data to and from your computer is transferred over the internet using either HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) or HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure). In fact, both of these may already seem familiar to you as they are usually in front of a website address (http://google.com/).

When data is transferred over HTTPS, it is encrypted using a set of keys. To understand how this process works think about the classic Christmas movie A Christmas Story. Ralphie finally gets his Little Orphan Annie radio show decoder ring in the mail, and then he eagerly awaits the radio broadcast to get a set of secret letters and numbers. He then uses his decoder ring to translate those letters and numbers into the intended message, "Be sure to drink your Ovaltine." Only people who had the ring were able to understand the message. This is how HTTPS connections work. Your computer uses the websites certificate to encrypt your data, you pass it to the web server, then the server decodes the data to get your credit card information.

To make sure you never submit credit card data, or anything else confidential, to unintended parties you need to look for a few signs. All of the major web browsers provide several indicators that you can look for.

Each web browser will have a location bar with the website address in it. The location bar for the page you are entering your credit card information in should be prefixed with "https://". In addition to this, each browser displays some sort of clickable "Lock" icon to get more information about the identity and security of a website.

For example, clicking the lock icon in Safari will display the following:

Each web browser will display it's lock icon in a different location.

In Safari and Google Chrome, they are near the top of the browser window:

Lock icon and "https" in Safari Web Browser

Lock icon and "https" in Google Chrome

Mozilla Firefox presents the lock icon on the bottom-right corner of the browser window, as well as having a "Capsule" to the left of the location bar that is blue or green depending on certification type.

Lock icon, "https" and Information Capsule in Firefox

Lock icon and "https" in Internet Explorer

Remember, you do not want to enter your credit card information into an insecure page. Be on the look out for "https" in the website url, the "Lock" icon and any other indication your web browser gives you. The only one who is going to really keep your sensitive data protected is you.