豆知识 2010-05-09&05-15 安全网站

 Whether it's buying shoes, managing bank accounts, or just connecting with friends, most of us depend on websites. Unfortunately it's easy to be fooled by fake websites that are designed to give your money or private information to criminals. Thankfully, it's now easier to know when a website is secure. This is Secure Websites in Plain English.

 

 

When you need to use a website to make a purchase or provide sensitive information, there are two big things to think about. The first is the connection from your computer to the company's computer. Your name, credit card information and other things have to travel from one to the other. This connection needs to be secure, so that criminals can't access the information in route. The second is knowing that you are working with a company you trust. If you’re working with a company you trust using a secure connection, your information is safe. But how do you know?

 

 

Knowing what to look for in a browser¹ is a big step to using secure websites. Let's consider the connection we mentioned earlier. Secure websites encrypt information before sending it between computers. This makes the information completely unreadable for criminals. Only the computer on the other end can read it, making the connection secure.

 

 

There are two big ways to tell if the connection is a secure one. First is the address bar where you’re used to seeing "http". Secure websites have an address that starts with"https" for secure. You can also look for a padlock icon² in the browser. If you see the “s” and padlock, the connection is encrypted and secure.

 

 

But what about the organization behind the website? How do we know it's not a criminal with a secure connection? Well, a new system makes this easy. Newer web browsers³ display color and company names in the address bar that help you know the site is trustworthy. It works like this: organizations that depend on security can have their websites reviewed and validated⁴ by licensed⁵ unbiased companies called Certificate Authorities.These rigorous reviews ensure the organization and the website are trustworthy and using a secure connection. If the tests are passed, the site is issued an EV SSL certificate, and only sites with these certificates display color in the address bar including the company name along with the address. Green means go; red means stop. This review process means criminals can't obtain the certificate that’s required to display the colorful information. So when you see a site with green info in the address bar, you can be sure it's legit.

 

 

Now if you are reading the news or checking the weather, security doesn't matter as much. So don't be concerned if you don't see the green bar or security information. Security matters most when you send sensitive information, like credit card numbers, passwords and private info over the Internet. If you are about to make a purchase, your browser holds the clues. Look for the “s” in the address and the padlock to make sure it's secure. And if you’re concerned that the site could be a scam, look for the green information. With these things in place, you can feel confident that your information is safe and secure.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

3 browsers   

浏览器

参考例句：

• Three-layer architecture is a model made up of browser, web server and background database server. 这种体系结构是由Browser、Web Server、Database Server组成的浏览器／Web服务器／后台数据库服务器三层模型。 来自互联网
• Another excellent approach is to abandon the browser entirely and, instead, create a non-browser-based, Internet-enabled application. 另一个非常好的方法是干脆放弃浏览器，取而代之，创建一个不基于浏览器，但却是基于互联网的应用。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 validated   

v.证实( validate的过去式和过去分词 )；确证；使生效；使有法律效力

参考例句：

• Time validated our suspicion. 时间证实了我们的怀疑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The decade of history since 1927 had richly validated their thesis. 1927年以来的十年的历史，充分证明了他们的论点。 来自辞典例句

5 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？