Chantal Wilford at [EMAIL PROTECTED],Internet writes:
>Sounds pretty good, right? Although I don't know exactly how that would
>work... I generally make my decision about whether to buy online based >on
how well-known or established the company/web site appears to be.
Citibank does seem to be on the ball with this, and no doubt other
banks will soon follow suit. I understand the credit card firms
have been meeting for some time to discuss standards for making
electronic purchasing safer and are now implementing the results.
However, I should warn you all that even if a company has a
famous name and well-designed Web site, that is no guarantee
of security. Hackers can and do break into sites run by major
corporations and even government agencies; some are just
maliciously playful but others are there for fun AND profit.
Before our list-owner slams me for straying from
the topic of translation, I'll get to the point: any transaction not
specifically destined for a secured server is insecure and you
might want to consider alternatives to putting your credit card
information on an insecure server. Two ways of avoiding it:
1- Get the order form from the Web site and fax it back to
the company, or fill it in on-line and phone in your credit
card number.
2- Encrypt the sensitive information before e-mailing it
or putting it into the form. That use, use software to
translate the data from legible to gobbledegook and send
the encryption key in a separate message to the company
so they can decode the gobbledegook and charge you.
There are probably more companies set up for the first
solution, but the second one is becoming increasingly
popular. Either way, if a Web site doesn't offer secured
server transactions, I'd suggest you ask why not.
Regards,
Judyth la pomme
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Judyth Mermelstein "cogito ergo lego ergo cogito..."
writer, editor, translator ... and "Internet guerrilla"
Montreal, Quebec, Canada <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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