Understanding Encryption for Safe Online Banking
Safety, privacy and security have always been an issue when it comes to online banking. With the rise of identity theft and unauthorized access of your private and financial information, it would not be surprising that a lot of people still prefer to do their banking the traditional way. But with the convenience, efficiency and speedy transaction of online banking, more and more people are looking for ways on how they can manage to bank online safely and securely. Not only is this an issue for users, it is also a big concern for bank administrators as well. Because of such issue, bank owners and web administrators are using encryption as way of ensuring security online.
What is Encryption?
An encryption basically ensures the privacy of the user, a web browser and the bank servers. It is a system that scrambles messages that are exchange between the bank server and a web browser. Whenever a user would be on a bank's sign-in or log-in page, it would utilize a secure session within the bank's server. This session would launch a protocol referred to as Secure Sockets Layer or commonly referred to as SSL encryption. The system would require an input of both private and public keys. These keys are random numbers that are used singly for a particular session and are only divulged to the server and the browser that you are using. Once these keys are exchange, the SSL system would encrypt and scramble these messages between the browser and the server, keeping information secured and private.
How does it work?
An encryption ensures that no other website can imitate a particular website or impersonate an online bank's official site. This also ensures that your information would not be altered in any way and would always be kept private. The secured lock symbol or icon that can be seen on the address bar just beside the website address is a sign that you are in an encrypted website or you are currently using an encrypted session in parts of the website that you are in.
Security levels
An encrypted website basically works like a combination lock. The privacy level of the encrypted session depends on the number of probable combination a lock can have. The more number of combination's it has, then the more secure and stable a website is. It would be hard to decrypt important messages such as your private and financial information. Online banking would often have a standard 128-bit encryption. Other websites that may need less protection would only have a 40-bit encryption.
Browser compatibility
Your browser should also be compatible to an encrypted website for you to be able to log-in in your online bank account successfully. To check the compatibility of your website, you can click 'Help' in your browser toolbar and click on 'About'. You would see a pop-up window that would state "Cipher strength". Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox and Google Chrome support encryption and assure you of a more secured online banking.
Originally posted 2008-10-05 03:39:16.
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