Some internet sites are “secure”. That means that information sent to and from those sites cannot be accessed by anyone else. The server sends a security certificate to the browser when the user logs onto a secure site. Upon leaving a secure site there is often a warning message saying that the user is leaving the secure site.
The main reason for using a secure site is to keep information private. It is especially important to be using a secure site when sending credit card information over the web. Hopefully, students are not using the classroom computers to make purchases. But it is important to teach them that when they do make a purchase to ensure that the site is secure.
There are two easy ways to tell if a site is secure. One way is to look at the address bar. On a secure site, the address will change from
http://www.whatever.com
to
https://.www.whatever.com
.
The other way to tell that a site is secure is to look for a little picture of a lock. The lock will display the whole time the browser is on a secured site. It is on the bottom menu bar on the bottom of the page.
Most secure sites require the use of a password and unfortunately, most people use the same password for every site. But a secure site loses all its benefits if the username and password aren’t secure.
Teach students to protect their passwords. Passwords should never be stored electronically. Because of this, it is important that students don’t use the “remember password” function. It is also important that they do not type a password into a program that displays the password. Any safe site will display stars or dots in the place of the symbols types into the password field.