In this section, we've tried to answer common questions and concerns as honestly as possible. If you don't find yours addressed here, or just want to talk to us, feel free to contact us by e-mail . 

Contents: 

• How do I know if a website is secure? 
• What parts of the Greg's Automotive site are secure? 

 

How do I know if a website is secure? 

In order to be accurate, we're going to get a bit detailed here. When buying something on the Internet, there are three things to be sure of: 

• Data you send is strongly encrypted. 
• The site you're doing business with is the site you think it is. 
• The site you're doing business with processes your credit card and address information in a safe and responsible manner. 

Points 1 and 2 are taken care of by SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), the industry standard security protocol that the Greg's Automotive site uses to communicate with secure browsers like Netscape and Internet Explorer. When communicating with a secure server like ours, these browsers encrypt the information you send in a way that is extremely difficult for anyone else to decode. We've included a visual representation below of what to look for in your browser window to see if you're viewing a site securely. 

Many security experts say the most important thing is what happens once the merchant receives your order. At Greg's Automotive, we take several steps to keep things on our end as safe as possible. We don't keep a copy of your credit card number on file. While this is a minor inconvenience — whether ordering on the Internet or by phone, you have to give us the number every time you order — we believe it's the safest and most honest way to do business.

Most of the activity on our site involves the viewing of materials we've prepared and made accessible to everyone, so there's no need for these pages to be "secure". With a product page for example, no security risk exists because there is no "information" being exchanged. Anyone can access the same pages by pointing their browser at http://www.gregsonline.com  

The portion of the Greg's Automotive site we've made secure is, not surprisingly, the order forms. This is where you actually purchase the items you've selected. The entire order process, takes place in a secure environment. 

There are several ways to confirm that you're in a secure area. All SSL capable browsers have a symbol to indicate secure mode. Specifically: 

Browser	Symbol Location	Normal (Insecure) mode Symbol	Secure Mode Symbol
Netscape 1.2, 2.0  and 3.0	Lower left	Broken Key	Complete Key
Netscape Communicator (4.0)	Lower left	Open Lock	Closed Lock
Microsoft Internet Explorer	Lower Right	NONE	Closed Lock

You can also tell when you're in a secure area because the URL to the left of the colon changes from 'http' to 'https' to signify that a SSL protocol is being used to communicate with the server. (http = HyperText Transport Protocol; https = HTTP with SSL.) 

One additional note: some browsers give you a warning when you go from a secure area to a regular area. The aim is worthy enough — to ensure that people know when they've left a secure server. But in practice, the message is often a bit startling, and makes it look like you've done something wrong even though you really haven't. 

If you have any additional questions don't hesitate to contact us via e-mail.