A cookie is a small, encrypted data string our server creates to contain your unique Identification Number as you move between some applications on our web site. Once you close your browser application, the cookie is gone. A cookie cannot be used to access or otherwise compromise the data in your computer or on your hard drive. Privacy protects messages from being read by unintended recipients. SSL supports privacy by encrypting the data that is communicated between your computer and our web site.
Integrity protects messages from being altered.
If altered, messages cannot be decrypted correctly. SSL supports integrity by using the MD5 message-digest algorithm. Authentication verifies that the person or machine on the other end of the connection is who it claims it is. SSL supports authentication by using certificates. When a browser connects to a server, the server presents its certificate.