What to look out for:

If the page you are browsing is secure then the website address will start with ‘https://’ instead of ‘http://’ – note the missing ‘s’. But every web browser has its own way of letting you know if the SSL page you are viewing is secure.

Below are a few examples of where various popular browsers display the Encrypted Icon.

• IE adds a gold pad-lock in the address bar.
• Firefox adds a blue or green bar to the address bar and also displays a small padlock in the bottom right corner of the screen.
• Safari adds a small pad-lock symbol in the address bar.
• Google Chrome displays a green pad-lock in the address bar.

What does this mean?

If you see the icons above then you can be confident that any information you submit will only be read by the intended recipient. This sign means that your web browser is working with the website to protect any data you view or send.

We do this with a data encryption process called SSL, or Sockets Sockets Layer. In order to encrypt your data correctly we have a valid SSL Certificate provided by Equifax Geo Trust.

SSL overview from the browser viewpoint

• Browser checks the certificate to make sure that the site you are connecting to is the real site and not someone intercepting.
• Determines encryption types that the browser and web site server can both use to understand each other. Browser and Server send each other unique codes to use when scrambling (or encrypting) the information that will be sent.
• The Browser and Server start talking using a encrypted connection, the web browser shows the Encrypted Icon. The data transmitted is completely secure.