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How is Security accomplished? |
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Is my credit card information safe? |
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Why do I hear so much about security on the internet? |
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What is the worst-case scenario? |
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How do I know if a web site is secure? |
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Which parts of Christ for all Nations web site secure? |
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What does "https://secure.cfan.org..." mean? |
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Website Security: How is this accomplished?
Every time you enter a page that is "secure" you will see this message box:When you see this box, click "OK" to proceed to the secure page.When you exiting a particular secure page, meaning you are returning to a non-secure page of the web site, you will see:
Simply click "OK" to continue.
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Is my credit card information secure?
We have taken many steps to ensure the security of your transaction. We have employed industry proven technologies to give you the safest shopping experience available. Our donation forms are secured through THAWTE secure certificates.
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Why do I hear so much about security on the Internet?
There are several reasons for this. First, it's relatively new, so people wonder and talk and write about it. Secondly, the Internet is "technology." People find it interesting to discuss and intially tend to be a little suspicious of it.
Now, internet purchasing is very common as sites such as Amazon.com, CDnow.com and others have thousands of financial transactions processed each day- all of which are transacted using similar technologies employed by our site to ensure your donations or purchases are secure.
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What is the worst-case scenario?
Regardless of what happens on our site--a slip of the mouse (unlikely), a security breach (highly unlikely)--there is no risk to you. In the case of fraud, most major credit cards have assumed all liability for what you owe above $50.00.
The past few years have proven that shopping from a secure Web server is not only safe, but one of the safest ways you can shop.
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How do I know if a Web site is secure?
In order to be accurate, we're going to get a bit detailed here. When buying something on the Internet, there are three things to be sure of:
- Data you send is strongly encrypted.
- The site you're doing business with is the site you think it is.
- The site you're doing business with processes your credit card and address information in a safe and responsible manner.
Points 1 and 2 are taken care of by SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), the industry standard security protocol that the Christ for all Nations' web site uses to communicate with secure browsers like Netscape and Internet Explorer. When communicating with a secure server like ours, these browsers encrypt the information you send in a way that is nearly impossible for someone to decode.
We've included a visual representation below of what to look for in your browser window to see if you're viewing a site securely.
Browser: Netscape 1.2, 2.0
Symbol Location: Lower left
Normal (Insecure) mode Symbol: Broken Key 
Secure Mode Symbol: Complete Key 
Browser: Netscape Communicator (4.0)
Symbol Location: Lower left
Normal (Insecure) mode Symbol: Open Lock 
Secure Mode Symbol: Closed Lock 
Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer
Symbol Location: Lower Right
Normal (Insecure) mode Symbol: NONE
Secure Mode Symbol: Closed Lock 
You can also tell when you're in a secure area because the URL to the left of the colon changes from 'http' to 'https' to signify that a SSL protocol is being used to communicate with the server.
(http = HyperText Transport Protocol; https = HTTP with SSL.)
One additional note: some browsers give you a warning when you go from a secure area to a regular area. This is to ensure that people know when they've left a secure serve, but in practice, the message is often a bit startling, and makes it look like you've done something wrong even though you really haven't.
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Which parts of the Christ for all Nations' site are secure?
Most of the activity on our site involves the viewing of materials we've prepared and made accessible to everyone, so there's no need for these pages to be "secure." With a page from our Ministry History, for example, no security risk exists because there is no "information" being exchanged.
The portion of the Christ for all Nations' site that is secure is, not surprisingly, any online donation forms, and any form where you submit personal information (such as our prayer request form or Impact subscription form)
There are several ways to confirm that you're in a secure area. All SSL capable browsers have a symbol to indicate secure mode. Click here for more detail on secure modes.
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What does "https://secure.cfan.org/..." mean?
When you enter a secure area of our website you will see https://secure.cfanusa.org/ included in the URL (web page address) of the form you have accessed. This means that you have entered a secure portion of the website. 
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