No padlock comes up for sites that need protection of login codes etc. Should it? If not, how do I know my details are safe?
In Explorer, a padlock comes up to tell you that the information you submit is being encrypted and cannot be accessed by others - for exmple, if you log into internet banking or access a page for making payments on line etc. Does Firefox provide protection in these circumstances and, if so, how.
Chosen solution
A padlock indicates that the connection from your computer to another computer is protected by encryption. A padlock does not mean that you are connected to the right computer, you have to check that yourself (site identity check). In Internet Explorer you can go to identity check by clicking on the padlock symbol. In Firefox you can click on the site identity button for the identity check and also to see the padlock. So you are doing the same, but in a different order. The padlock add-on just adds an extra padlock symbol, it does not increase safety.
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In Firefox 4 and later you no longer have the Status bar that showed the padlock in previous Firefox versions.
The padlock only shows that there is a secure connection and doesn't guarantee that you are connected to the right server.
So you might still be connected to the wrong server if you make a typo in the URL and someone has claimed that mistyped URL.
The functionality of the padlock has been replaced by the How do I tell if my connection to a website is secure? on the left end of the location bar.
See also:
- http://www.dria.org/wordpress/archives/2008/05/06/635/
- https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Site+Identity+Button
- http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/security/identity/
You can use this extension to get a padlock on the location bar.
Thanks Cor - el. Does the padlock I downloaded from Firefox add ons indicate that the data you enter is given extra protection? - I am not sure how the extra protection works...encryption? Or is it simply a way of authenticating the site you are accessing. In Explorer, if you go into a payment page etc accessed through a password, the padlock comes up to show that the data has extra protection through, I had assumed, some form of encryption...? I realise how much I assumed about Explorer's padlock!
Chosen Solution
A padlock indicates that the connection from your computer to another computer is protected by encryption. A padlock does not mean that you are connected to the right computer, you have to check that yourself (site identity check). In Internet Explorer you can go to identity check by clicking on the padlock symbol. In Firefox you can click on the site identity button for the identity check and also to see the padlock. So you are doing the same, but in a different order. The padlock add-on just adds an extra padlock symbol, it does not increase safety.
Very helpful, thanks!