You can conduct your business via the Internet with an extremely high degree of security. If you are like most people, your financial institution has set up a service on the Internet and has recently sent you marketing material with statements similar to the one above.
Encryption Sitting at a keyboard and browsing the Web gives an illusion of privacy.
However, every bit of information you send or receive over the Internet passes through multiple public computer servers and networks. Unlike our phone system, privacy was not a foundation of the Internet, although it has allowed for its uninhibited worldwide expansion. Security becomes an issue, however, when you re no longer just viewing Web pages, but sending and receiving sensitive information. The Internet is fast becoming a vital means for conducting our daily business, and security looms large in that context. The Web site sends a certificate to your browser that guarantees that the site is both secure and authentic.