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Security on
AllIcemakerFilters.com and all of our Web Sites. |
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By Security, we mean the
ways we make sure the information you send us remains secure. We
also have a Privacy Statement
If you don't find your concern addressed here, feel free to
contact us by
e-mail or phone (1-806-463-7800).
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Is my credit card
information secure?
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We have
taken many steps to ensure the security of your transaction. Some of
them involve adopting industry standards.
It's important to know that since Super Appliance Parts World
went online in 1998, there have been no confirmed cases of fraud
reported by customers as a result of
credit card purchases made here. |
What does this "warning" window that comes up in the ordering
process really mean? |
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On
some browsers, this window can be a bit intimidating. But it simply
means that you're entering the safest, most secure area of our Web
site.
This should be reassuring since this is where credit card
transactions take place. Click to continue. Going from Secure mode
to insecure mode, you'll likely receive another similar alert
message, just to make sure you know what's happening. |
Why
do I hear so much about security on the Internet? |
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Several
things conspire to make Internet security a newsworthy item. First,
it's relatively new, so people wonder and talk and write about it.
Secondly, the Internet is "technology", so people find it
interesting to discuss. And tend to be a little suspicious of it.
The Internet has always thrived on openness. It has been the
"Internet way" for someone to release something—a piece of software,
a networking specification, a security protocol—and then have lots
of smart people try to find flaws in it, lending their ideas for
making it better. It has proven to be a remarkably effective
development process. But for people unfamiliar with it, to see each
new release of a browser, for example, get pounded on and picked
apart, can be rather disconcerting. |
What's the worst
thing that could happen? |
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Regardless
of what happens on our site — a slip of the mouse (unlikely), a
security breach (highly unlikely) — there is no risk to you. In the
case of fraud, we'll assume all liability for what you owe. In most
states, this means that we'll pick up the first $50, and the credit
card company takes responsibility for the rest. In addition, we'll
do our very best to work with the credit card company to minimize
the hassle for you.
That said, the past few years have proven that shopping from our
secure web server is not only safe, but one of the safest ways you
can shop from Super Appliance. Super has been in business since
1948, and since we took out business on-line in 1998, there has not
been one confirmed case of fraud. |
How do I know if a
Web site is secure? |
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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 and we
will never share or sell your information.
Points 1 and 2 are taken care of by SSL (Secure Sockets Layer),
the industry standard security protocol that the Super Appliance
Parts World 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. (You don't have to know whether your browser supports
secure transactions— if it doesn't, you won't be able to complete
the checkout process.) 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 Super Appliance, we take
several steps to keep things on our end as safe as possible. For
example, we keep orders encrypted until we're ready to process them.
We process orders several times each hour, so they don't "sit"
anywhere very long. We do our order processing on machines that
aren't connected to the Internet, so there's no danger of people
gaining access to them. 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. |
Which
parts of the Super Appliance site are secure? |
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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 or an editorial 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.allicemakerfilters.com
The portion of the Super Appliance site we've made secure is, not
surprisingly, the checkout area. This is where you actually purchase
the items you've put into your Shopping Cart. The checkout process,
at the point your are switched to actually give your Credit Card
Information 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:
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Browser |
Symbol Location |
Normal (Insecure) mode Symbol |
Secure Mode Symbol |
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Netscape 1.2, 2.0 and 3.0 |
Lower left |
Broken Key |
Complete Key |
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Netscape Communicator (4.0) |
Lower left |
Open Lock |
Closed Lock |
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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.) In most browsers you'll also see a solid
blue line in the upper portion of the browser's window — another
visual aid that lets you know you're browsing a secure area.
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.
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