Security Center

 Tips on Preventing Identity Theft
To secure or not secure, that is the question!


 

Wait... what are you talking about?

We're talking about secure websites. If you're building a website or even if you're surfing the web, if you are required to enter any personal information, such as a credit card number, social security number, mother's maiden name, or anything else that you would only know and major companies use to verify your identity, we suggest that you look out for 'Secure Certificates.'

What is this, you ask? Well a secure certificate is a small "program" that is installed on a website to verify to the visitor that they're transmitting their information securely to the company that owns the website. Secure certificates isn't something that anyone can just easily get; you have to apply and pay for one. The application is fairly simple and the cost can vary from $300 to over $1000.

Most major websites have secure certificates installed. If you were to visit PayPal.com, you would instantly be transferred to their secured website. You can identify a secured website by a number of things.

  1. If you were to look at the website URL in your address bar, you would see the prefix "https://" instead of just "http://". The added "s" is to show you that you're on a secured website.
  2. You can also identify a secured website by looking for a "Padlock" icon in the address bar or in your status bar (at the bottom).
  3. You can also identify that a website is secure by looking for a secured seal on the web page. Almost all websites that have a secured certificate installed also have a secured seal to prove it's security. You should be able to click on this seal and verify it.

So, to answer the question, we say "Secure away!"