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| About Internet Security |
| How Does Browser Security Work? |
Recent versions of most internet browsers support the encrypted transmission of
on-line documents and the data you enter on a web page. This means that instead
of sending readable text, both your browser and the web site's secure server
encode all text using a security key. That way, personal data sent to your
browser or data you send back would be extremely difficult to decode in the
unlikely event it was intercepted by an unauthorized party. The key used for
encoding is a random number that is unique to your session at the secure web
site.
There are two grades of internet security: International-grade encryption uses
a 40-bit random number negotiated between your browser and the web-server. This
means that only one out of about 1,000,000,000,000 possible decoding keys can
be used to decipher your data. Domestic-grade encryption uses a 128-bit key, so
that the number of possible keys is vastly larger. The Countrywide site uses
the highest grade of encryption supported by your browser and your internet
connection.
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How Do I Know If Security is Operating? |
Your internet session is encrypted if your security-enabled browser is
connected to a web site using the Secure Hypertext Transport Protocol. URL
strings beginning with "HTTPS://" instead of the usual
"HTTP://" indicate that the secure protocol is in effect. Your
browser may also tell you if security is operating. For example, Netscape
Navigator may display the 
icon in the lower left corner of your screen in secure mode. If 128-bit
security is in effect, it shows the 
icon. Microsoft Internet Explorer shows a 
icon in either case. Note that security may be operating without any visible
indication if the web page you are viewing employs frames (see below).
If secure transmission is not in effect or only part of a frame-based page is
secure, Netscape shows the "broken key" 
icon, and Explorer does not show the "lock" icon.
Most browsers can be set to give you a pop-up announcement when you enter or
leave a secure web page. In Netscape, these settings are on the Security
Preferences "General" tab. In IE, the setting is on the
"Advanced" tab when you select "Options" on the View menu.
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Secure Mode and Frame-Based Web Pages |
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Security may be operating without displaying any security icons (or Netscape
may show the "broken key" icon) if only part of a frame-based page is
employing security. You can verify the security of page within a frame by
opening it in a new browser window. Both IE and Netscape allow you to open a
link in a new window by right-clicking on the link and selecting that option
from the pop-up context menu. When a secure page is open in its own window,
instead of being viewed within a frame, you can then see the security icons
provided by your browser as well as the "https://" secure protocol
prefix in the URL string.
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Equal Housing Lenders. © 2008 Countrywide Bank, FSB, Countrywide Home Loans Division. Member FDIC. Trade/service marks are the property of Countrywide Financial Corporation, Countrywide Bank, FSB, or their respective affiliates and/or its subsidiaries. Some products may not be available in all states. This is not a commitment to lend. Restrictions apply. All rights reserved.