7.2 How to check a webpage is secure

It is vitally important that you get into the habit of checking pages are secure before entering sensitive financial information into that page. If you don’t, and the page you are on isn’t secure, the information you are entering will not be encrypted and could potentially be viewed by anyone.

You can check a webpage is secure by looking for two things on the application browser page:

1. https:// in the address toolbar.

Web addresses usually begin with http:// but the addition of the ‘s’ means you are on a secure page. A lot of recent versions of web browsers now change the colour of the address bar when the page is secure (see the yellow below – the address bar is white when not secure).

2. A locked padlock in the window of the browser (NOT in the display area of the web page).

If you click on the padlock you should be able to see details relating to the site’s security. Different internet browsers may display their padlocks on the bottom bar of the browser page.

If you can’t see this part of the browser window you need to go to ‘view’ on the toolbar at the top right of the browser window and make sure ‘status bar’ is checked.

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