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Research shows that one of the biggest barriers to the growth of online shopping is concern about sending personal and financial information over the internet.
We at Kudoshops share these concerns.
All of the shops listed in the directory used a secure server when we last visited. We visit all the listed shops regularly, and if we find a shop that is no longer secure, or, just as importantly, cannot demonstrate to a user that it is secure, it is taken off the site.
Below you will find answers to the most frequently asked questions about online security.
How safe are my credit card details on the internet?
What is a secure server?
What is a security certificate?
How do I tell if a site is secure?
Some sites say they use secure servers, but I can't see the padlock icon. Are they lying?
Where can I find more information on shopping on the internet?
How safe are my credit card details on the internet?
If you use your common sense and take the precautions outlined here, the answer to this one is, just as safe as they are in the real world. In the real world many people happily give their credit card details over the phone, many more don't think twice about letting waiters take their cards into a back room.
In any event, it is worth remembering that the credit card companies shoulder most of the burden of credit card fraud. Of course, we all pay for fraud in the charges we pay, and the sooner the industry gets its act together the better it will be for everyone. In the mean time, there are credit cards, such as Egg, that carry an internet shopping guarantee. It makes sense to use them.
Most people's worries on internet security centre around the vulnerability of their details to hackers. This is where secure servers come in.
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What is a secure server?
Secure pages on websites use secure servers, whose software encrypts, or scrambles data before transmitting it over the internet. So, even if a clever, malicious hacker manages to gain access to the personal details you are sending, they won't be able to decipher them. The data is only unscrambled again when it is safely behind a firewall, another piece of security software protecting data from the hostile world out in cyberspace.
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What is a security certificate?
A security certificate is the information that a secure site sends you when you visit, which guarantees its security. This is the information that your browser is responding to when the padlock icon appears. If there is a problem with the security certificate, for instance a site might claim to be secure when it isn't, your browser can alert you. Refer to your browser's Help Files for more information.
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How do I tell if a site is secure?
All the shops listed in kudoshops.com were secure when we last visited, but things can and do change, so you would be wise to know what to look for.
Normally, only the final page of the buying process, where you actually enter your credit card details, is secure. When a secure page loads, the status bar of your browser should change. In Internet Explorer a small padlock icon should appear on the bottom right hand side of your screen. In Netscape Navigator the padlock icon on the bottom left should change from open to closed. In addition, if you look at your browser's address bar, the "http://" part of the website's address should change to "https://"
You may have noticed the careful use of the word "should". Unfortunately, the virtual world is not very different to the real one, and things don't always work out as they should. More about this later.
If you want more information on what level of security a site is using, and about the details of their security certificate, this is available, too. In Internet Explorer, click on "File", then "Properties". This tells you what level of encryption the site uses. If you click on "Certificate", more information on the certificate is available. The same information is available in Netscape Navigator by clicking on the security button on the Navigation toolbar.
You can change the amount of information about security that your browser gives you if you wish. Refer to the browser's Help Files.
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Some sites say they use secure servers, but I can't see the padlock icon. Are they lying?
Not necessarily. There are some genuinely secure sites that for one reason or another do not display the padlock icon. One common reason is that a page has frames in its design, and not all of the frames are secure. Some browsers will display the whole page as non-secure. In this case if you right click on the area of the page where the credit card details are entered, and then click on "Properties"(Internet Explorer) or "View Info"(Netscape), a dialogue box will be displayed that gives information for that particular frame. It will tell you whether the frame is encrypted, and if it is, at what level. The address will also be given, showing the https:// if the frame is secure.
If you have done all this, and your browser still tells you that the page or frame is not secure, or you are getting alert messages saying that there are problems with the certificate, you might want to seek other assurances about the legitimacy of the site.
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Where can I find more information on shopping on the internet?
You will find good advice and information on shopping on the web at:
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