Much has been written about how credit card information needs to be encrypted to the same standard as government top secret messages. This exaggeration has reproduced and spread like a weed through the minds of computer professionals and the public at large. It is now considered a common-knowledge fact. Even the highest levels of protection may end up broken in a matter of weeks by determined individuals or government agencies.
Nothing is completely safe.
Everyday, people hand over their credit card numbers to waiters and anonymous voices over the telephone, and think nothing of it. Under normal use, credit card information is constantly available to theft. It would seem that even the barest level of encryption during Internet purchases is safer than most typical credit card transactions. However, when asked, the majority of consumers do believe they need extremely high levels of protection on the Internet. In part this concern has been fueled with stories of unsavory types lurking in the shadows of the cyber highways waiting to assault the innocent.