How do I know if a page is secure? What type of security does the MACPA site employ?

All electronic transmissions that include personal data, such as credit card information, are protected by the service VeriSign. This service encrypts data as it travels from our Web server to our internal server to protect the data en route. Once the data arrives at MACPA, the data is decrypted into a readible format.

How to determine if a Web page is secure

It's easy to detect if a page is secured anywhere on the Internet. First, look at the URL. If the URL starts with https:// (note the "s"), the page has been set up as a secure page. To MAKE SURE the page is secure, look at the bottom of your browser window and look for an icon of a lock. If the page is secure, the lock will be closed. If the page is not secure, the lock will be in the open position.

Sometimes a browser will notify you when you are leaving or entering a secure page. It may look like this.

In this case, the window is telling you that the page you were just on (the one you are leaving) WAS secure and you are now going to a page which is NOT secure. As long as the page you were on when you hit the submit button (assuming you were entering personal data) was secure, your data was submitted securely. The window is just making you aware that there is a change in the type of page you are accessing. It does not mean that your data was not securely sent.

The members-only areas of the MACPA Web site provide news, legislative information, services and resources for MACPA members. These resources are a benefit of membership. Members are required to create their own accounts to gain access. At that time, they may request that their accounts "remember" their passwords to make it easier for subsequent access to the section. However, members are responsible for maintaining secrecy of their user name and password from their home and work computers. For more information, please see "What is a cookie?"

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