Once in a byte, there is something that comes down the Internet line that is of real importance. With many purchases taking place on-line these days, here is the real way to stay safe with your credit card transactions.
What is the difference between http and https? I don’t know how many of you are aware of this difference, but it’s worth telling you about. The main difference between “http://” and “https://” is it’s all about keeping you secure. HTTP stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol.
The S (big surprise here) stands for “Secure.” If you visit a website or webpage, and look at the address in the web browser, it will likely begin with the following: http://.This means that the website is talking to your browser using the regular “unsecured” language. In other words, it is possible for someone to “eavesdrop” on your computer’s conversation with the website. If you fill out a form on the website, someone might see the information you send to that site.
This is why you never ever enter your credit card number in an http website! But, if the web address begins with https://, that basically means your computer is talking to the website in a secure code that no one can eavesdrop on.
You understand why this is so important, right? If a website ever asks you to enter your credit card information, you should automatically look to see if the web address begins with https://. If it doesn’t, you should NEVER enter sensitive information, such as a credit card number, SIN #, etc. Stay safe and have fun shopping!
The Vernon PC Users’ Club meets the second Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Schubert Centre. Call Betty at 250-542-7024 or Grace at 250-549-4318 for more information.
