How can you check that a webpage is secure?
There are three important things that you should look for on a website before entering any credit card information.
1.Look at the website address at the top of the page. Does it start with http:// or https:// (note the “s”)? If it starts with http:// , the webpage is not secure and do not enter any personal information into it. However if it does start with https:// this means that the website is in a secure area. Now check step 2 and 3.
2.Look for a padlock somewhere in your internet browser (explorer, firefox, safari etc). If there is no padlock on the browser somewhere then the page could be unsecure. If the browser does have a padlock, then it means that the website is secure. NOTE: The padlock is not shown on the website page (as this means absolutely nothing), rather the padlock that you’re looking for is somewhere on the browser.
Here are two examples of how the padlock can look:
3. Having done the above 2 steps, you now know that the website that you’re on is secure and only the intended recipients can access your credit card details. Therefore the 3rd step is to check that you’re happy for the intended recipients to get your credit card details. If you have not heard of the organisation or have not had any dealings with them, it is wise to check their website for credibility and contact details. If the organisation’s website looks dodgy or doesn’t have normal contact information, you may hesitate from paying money to them.
What makes the “https://” website secure?
Their are two protocols that secure a website – “SSL” (Secure Sockets Layer) and “TLS” (Transport Layer Security). Both of these protocols encrypt information between pages so that if information is “intercepted” by an unauthorized party, the encrypted data is meaningless and useless unless they know have to decrypt the information. By using SSL or TLS, only the intended recipient has the encryption “key” and can successfully decrypt the information passed to it.
As an example, you can see the effect that SSL security has on the Commonwealth Bank website via these two images below:
Mozilla Firefox
Internet Explorer
SSL and TLS use third party companies such as Comodo, VeriSign or GeoTrust to validate that the website is genuine, provide the encryption and decryption abilities.
This is a very simple explanation of how these protocols work. For more detailed information visit this link.
How can you make your website secure?
Whether you wish to make just one page on your website secure or the entire website secure, the process is the same. If you need help with making your website secure, call us on 1300 660 160 and on of our friendly and professional security technicians will give you free advice and a quote.
Making a new or existing website secure involves the following 4 steps:
1.We move the website hosting to a “dedicated IP address”. The majority of website hosting is on what is called a “shared IP address” where your website shares the same IP address as many other websites. An IP address is the location of the computer server that hosts your website and is a numerical number such as 125.292.28.48.
2.We register a new SSL certificate with a third party company. We usually use Comodo or Verisign as suppliers of SSL certificates.
3.We install and configure the SSL certificate. This is installed on the hosting server and often involves communication between the SSL provider and the website host.
4.We make any final adjustments to the website to work within the new https:// secure area. The existing website may be in a unsecure http:// area, therefore this step would involve moving any unsecured pages to the https:// area and relinking the website up.
Would you like more information or a quote?
Fireworks regularly make new and existing websites secure on a weekly basis. We can usually complete the process within a 5 day period. Call us on 1300 660 160 today! Our professional and friendly staff are happy to discuss your requirements and provide free advice and a quote.