Do you make purchases over the Internet with your credit or debit card? If so, you will want to make sure that your card numbers are safe from getting stolen over the Internet. With more money and more transactions taking place online, it is important to stay safe while buying the things you need.
What is SSL?
SSL, Secure Sockets Layer, is when websites use HTTPS instead of HTTP and have a SSL certificate. This makes your connection from the computer or device you are using to be encrypted to the web server. With HTTPS vs. HTTP, the “s” stands for secure. It lets you, the user, know that your connection is encrypted to the website server, and not being transferred in plain text.
How Can I See Which Websites Use SSL?
If you are wondering which websites use SSL, it is pretty simple to find out if your connection is secure. In the URL, just look to see if it starts off with HTTPS instead of HTTP. For example: https://www.citymac.com/store would be secure.
Large well-known websites are going to use HTTPS and SSL, as they want their customers' information to be safe when making a purchase with them. Some of these websites include: apple.com, amazon.com, yahoo.com, google.com, gmail.com, facebook.com, onedrive.com, and many more.
In the screenshots below, you can see on Safari (top screenshot) there is a lock next to www.amazon.com, this shows the site is secure. With Firefox (bottom screenshot), you can see the lock is there yet again, along with HTTPS in the URL. In Safari HTTP and HTTPS are hidden unless you click on the URL field.
Safari SSL
Firefox SSL
It is not just credit and debit cards that need be kept safe, your passwords to Internet accounts should be as well. As with SSL, everything you transfer through your web browser to the website’s server is encrypted, your login information will be kept secure. For example, when you log into to www.facebook.com, your password will be kept from sending in plain text.
Not Every Website Needs SSL
Not every website on the Internet is going to use SSL, and there isn’t a need for a lot of websites to use it. Don’t freak out if you go to someone’s blog and find out they aren’t using HTTPS and SSL. HTTPS and SSL are only really needed when transferring information that is sensitive from the user’s computer to the web server. If you are visiting your friend's blog, or a company’s website where they do not have you submit any type of personal data, that is fine. Although, if you are going to make a purchase on a smaller website that does not use SSL, that is unsafe.
Keeping Your System Up-to-Date
Keeping your computer up-to-date is important because security updates help keep information secure when doing any type of transferring sensitive information over the internet.
In all, we hope that this blog helps you if you are wondering how to keep your card information safe when making online purchases. Using SSL definitely helps keep your card numbers out of the wrong hands. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to leave a comment below.