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Is a credit card transaction of this type really safe from fraud? The short answer is "Yes." The long answer is...
Most consumers do not realize that security protocols and technologies currently exist to protect them. Most of the reported credit card fraud over the internet has involved people emailing their credit card account numbers to merchants, or web sites accepting credit cards without using any security protocols.
Such potentially insecure methods of data transmission are not used here at Group Publishing, Inc.. We employ the latest in internet security and electronic commerce security:
- Operating System
Security.
We have employed the strictest security (secure users, groups and
passwords) offered by our high-end operating system.
- Database Security. Group Publishing, Inc. gathers customers, products, and orders in databases. Those databases are secured with passwords set up at the table level. Even someone typing on the computer the database is stored on would have to know the database passwords to gain access to the information.
- Encoded Credit Card Slips. Credit card transactions (or slips, as they are known in
the banking industry) are encoded using the Secure Electronic Commerce (SET) standard pioneered by
Visa and MasterCard. Even if someone were to intercept a transaction, they would not be able to gain
access to the information. Credit card transactions are handled in real time between your credit card
issuer and our bank.
- SSL Server Certificate. Group Publishing, Inc. uses an SSL server
certificate. What’s a server certificate? A company wanting to do business
on the world wide web must prove to a trusted third party, such as VeriSign
Inc. or Thawte Consulting, that they really exist and have the right to use
a particular domain name (Internet address). An SSL Certificate is then assigned
to that business that authenticates their domain.
When a customer uses a modern web browser (such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer), the browser can automatically check
the business's authenticity. If the browser can't verify that VeriSign or
Thawte vouches for the business, it will refuse to start an encrypted session,
or at least pop up a window warning the customer that the browser can't determine
authenticity. The encryption mechanism used for SSL certificates is so secure,
the U.S. government prohibits its export outside the United States.
So shopping with us at Group Publishing, Inc. really is safe. In fact,
it would be much easier for a thief to steal your credit card information
from the carbon copy of a receipt than to intercept an online secure transaction
at our web site.
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