If you are on a website that is asking for personal information, you may ask “How do you know if it is a secure website?” The thing you need to remember is that there are many sites out there that are not secure, even if they claim to be. You need to make sure to check several things before you assume that a site is going to be secure.
The first thing you can do is very simple. You will see at the top of your browser that the website you type in has a URL that appears at the top. If you see that it begins with http://, it is not definitely a secure website. Secure sites will begin with https:// instead. If your site does not have an “s” at the end of the “http,” then it may not be secure. Sometimes a site will give you the option of if you want it to be secure or not. Once you say that you want the site to be secure, the “s” will appear after the “http.”
Another thing you can do is make sure that there is a lock icon on the browser itself. You do not want to trust a site that shows its own picture of a lock. Part of the answer to “How do you know if it is a secure website” is that you should never trust what the site itself says. Even if it sounds convincing, you do not want to trust it if you do not see the lock icon on the browser itself. Just imagine if you were someone who wanted to scam people with a non-secure website. You would probably try to make it sound very convincing, too!
Everyone’s browser is different, so you need to learn about the one you are using. Look at the settings and at any tutorials that you can. They will show you where the lock icon should be and what should happen when you click on it. If you happened to catch a virus that makes a fake lock icon appear, you will be able to tell that it is fake if you click on it each time because you will notice the difference. Having familiarity with your browser in this way will help you prevent yourself from using websites that are not secure.
When you are asking “How do you know if it is a secure website,” you should keep the above things in mind. You will see that you can easily get used to searching for the “s” and the lock icon. This will help you sort out the pages that are secure from the ones that are not. Furthermore, you should research any site that you want to use that is asking for personal information. If the site was not secure in the past and it was used to scam someone, they have probably written about it online. You can find their information and avoid the site yourself. If you keep these things in mind, you will be able to ensure that you only use secure websites when you give personal information.
