I've blogged a bit about the importance of knowing what web sites you are REALLY visiting, knowing where a link will take you BEFORE you click on it, avoiding sketchy sites, and being able to trust the sites you visit.
Isn't surfing harmless, as long as you don't download and install anything sketchy?
It used to be that you could avoid getting viruses and other bad stuff by avoiding opening email attachments and not installing random software. However, the number of web-based malware attacks have increased significantly in the past year. Drive-by downloads could happen without you knowing.
What's that mean? Basically, by merely opening a web page on your computer, you could get bad software installed on your computer.
What could that do? Having bad software on your computer is sort of like having an invisible intruder in your house (except that it's on your computer.) The intruder could find and steal confidential information about you and send it out (which could lead to identity theft).. It could log everything you type. It could put other bad software on your machine.. It could use your computer to do some not-so-good things.
Good web sites that you trust are also always being under attack by hackers. If the good web site has some insecure weak point, a hacker could take advantage of that and use your good web site to trick you and do something bad as well. So, if anything looks suspicious, I'd always be wary.
Some search engines and web browsers will warn you about sites that are known to be bad web sites. So, for example, if you're searching on Google, and Google marks a site as potentially harmful to your computer, don't go there!
Showing posts with label website. Show all posts
Showing posts with label website. Show all posts
Friday, September 4, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
How can I tell if my connection to this web site is encrypted?
As mentioned before, just because you are sending information through your computer (versus a physical form like a letter) does not mean it is completely private. And just because you use a password to log into a site does not mean the information you send/receive is completely private. In my last post, we looked at the importance of having an encrypted connection when using wireless internet, especially the free public kind.
How can you tell that your connection with a certain web site is secure and private?
Encrypted web sites have the URL "https://yourwebsite.com" instead of "http://yourwebsite.com". Note the extra 's' in "https". This shows that you are connected using secure http (and not just regular http).
Most web browsers show a picture of a padlock in the lower right-hand corner of the browser if your connection is encrypted. Note that a web page can display any pictures that it wants, including a picture of a padlock - but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. You must look for the browser's padlock picture. Below are pictures highlighting the "https" and the padlock in Internet Explorer 6 and in Firefox 3.
Even if you have an encrypted session, you should make sure you have an encrypted session to the right site. Are you connected to "https://www.amazon.com" or are you connected to "https://www.amazon.org"? Are you connected to "https://www.paypal.com" or are you connected to "https://www.paypal.online-site.com"?
Someone could set up a fake web site that looks like the web site you want to go to, and just wait for you to enter and send him your username and password.
If you log into a web site using regular http, your username and password is sent unencrypted, and anyone trying to "overhear" what you said will be able to know your username and password. So, to be sure, use https when possible. (Windows Hotmail uses http by default unless you click on "Use enhanced security" to use https.) Some web sites where security is a priority (such as any online banking web site) will automatically switch you over from http to https when you go to their site. (Try going to http://www.bankofamerica.com and you'll see this happen.)
Many online webmail sites use https to log you in (so your username and password are kept secret), but switch to regular http afterwards (which means someone can eavesdrop on the mail you send/receive at the very least.) Yahoo! mail does this, and so does Gmail by default, unless you turn on the https setting mentioned before.
Not all web sites are set up to use https. But if you had a choice, would you choose to use http or https? Hopefully you answered https! Make it a habit and type in https://...!
More on how you can tell a site is who it says it is later.
How can you tell that your connection with a certain web site is secure and private?
Encrypted web sites have the URL "https://yourwebsite.com" instead of "http://yourwebsite.com". Note the extra 's' in "https". This shows that you are connected using secure http (and not just regular http).
Most web browsers show a picture of a padlock in the lower right-hand corner of the browser if your connection is encrypted. Note that a web page can display any pictures that it wants, including a picture of a padlock - but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. You must look for the browser's padlock picture. Below are pictures highlighting the "https" and the padlock in Internet Explorer 6 and in Firefox 3.
Even if you have an encrypted session, you should make sure you have an encrypted session to the right site. Are you connected to "https://www.amazon.com" or are you connected to "https://www.amazon.org"? Are you connected to "https://www.paypal.com" or are you connected to "https://www.paypal.online-site.com"?
Someone could set up a fake web site that looks like the web site you want to go to, and just wait for you to enter and send him your username and password.
If you log into a web site using regular http, your username and password is sent unencrypted, and anyone trying to "overhear" what you said will be able to know your username and password. So, to be sure, use https when possible. (Windows Hotmail uses http by default unless you click on "Use enhanced security" to use https.) Some web sites where security is a priority (such as any online banking web site) will automatically switch you over from http to https when you go to their site. (Try going to http://www.bankofamerica.com and you'll see this happen.)
Many online webmail sites use https to log you in (so your username and password are kept secret), but switch to regular http afterwards (which means someone can eavesdrop on the mail you send/receive at the very least.) Yahoo! mail does this, and so does Gmail by default, unless you turn on the https setting mentioned before.
Not all web sites are set up to use https. But if you had a choice, would you choose to use http or https? Hopefully you answered https! Make it a habit and type in https://...!
More on how you can tell a site is who it says it is later.
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