SAFE Download Service

Security Level

When your browser communicates with a web server using Secure Socket Layer (SSL), your browser and the server negotiate the best security that both can support.

Your browser should support at least SSL version 3 (SSLv3) and use 128-bit encryption.  If either of these is not true, the SAFE Download Service web pages will show the weak or old setup in red and bold.  For example:

Example	For This Page
Security Level SSLv2 (old) RC4-MD5 40-bits (weak)	Security Level No Security

TLSv1 is the current, highest version of SSL.  SSLv3 is the previous version of SSL and is still strong.  SSLv2 is old and has several security flaws.

RC4-MD5 and the like are cryptographic protocols used by SSL.  Discussion of such protocols is beyond the scope of this page (and beyond the scope of this author :-).

If your browser security level is classified as weak or old, you should upgrade to a newer browser with full 128-bit security.  This will probably require Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 and later, or Netscape Communicator/Navigator 4.0 or later.

More on Browser Security 
Server Security Report 
Browser Type Report 
WSSG Software (secure browser download)

Security
About the SAFE Download Service
Security Level

ABOUT SSL CERTIFICATES

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URL: /about/SAFE/SecurityLevel.shtml , page modified: Friday, 02-Jul-2004 13:53:05 PDT