Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Computer Learning -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PMS Witch who wrote (5238)	8/18/1999 3:08:00 PM
From: mr.mark	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 110588

re: online security i visited a web site last night that offers online courses in a subject that interests me. the price was reasonable and this company will even allow you to take the course final exam online. pretty cool. naturally i determined that i would check into the company (my due diligence) before ordering. last night i just happened to be doing some reading... a great article in pc mag about protecting yourself online. our browsers go a long way towards establishing a secure environment in which to operate. so i decided to check into the security measures i already have in place using netscape communicator4.51. i went to the company's online ordering page (where they ask for credit card number and all that good stuff) and made note of the little padlock icon in the lower left corner of the browser window. if the padlock is in a locked position and is highlighted in yellow, that's what i want. if the padlock icon is unlocked and not highlighted, watch out! (you can put your mouse arrow on that icon right now and click for more info) so guess which position the padlock was in when i was on this company's order page? you guessed it, unlocked. i asked for more info and basically here is what netscape gave me back: "Security: This is an insecure document that is not encrypted and offers no security protection..." and... "This page was not encrypted. This means it was possible for other people to view this page when it was loaded." i just sent the company an email advising them of my findings, including the above quoted netscape security rating. i'm looking forward to their answer. i just want to share with people that our browsers (particularly the newer versions) are useful security tools if we learn to use them. in netscape, in addition to clicking on the padlock icon, you can click on 'help' and select 'security'. :) mark