How to check that a website is secure and has a valid Security Certificate (in Firefox)

Last Updated: 14/09/10

A Security Certificate is proof of a company’s identity.

A certificate shows that the webpage is that of the genuine company. Always check for a security certificate before entering financial details on a website.

To check the validity of a Security Certificate in Mozilla Firefox follow the steps below.

Step 1

To check that a site is secure, look for the yellow lock icon shown to the right of the status bar in the bottom right hand corner of the webpage.

Step 2

Double click on the lock icon to display the security certificate for the site. The window opposite will appear:

Step 3

Click on the View button to see the sites security information. The window opposite will appear. Check that the Issued To details match the name of the site including site owners. Check the Issued By details are from a reliable source such as VeriSign.

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