In article , GS wrote: :Is the ethernet connection to home from ISP is secure for Bank and :on-line transaction using Credit cards?.
This is probably a more appropriate topic for comp.security.misc
:We are getting LAN connection :from a small ISP to home (I think they are using a hub, through that :giving connections to multiple homes), Is that secure for on-line :transaction, I am worrying about password theft and all?. Does Browser :take care about encryption I believe.
A -good- bank or online store will use encryption at the browser level. Unfortunately, even some of the large and famous banks and stores do not protect your data at every step.
Historically, a number of stores and credit-card companies have had data leaks. Some of those leaks have allowed people to get access to online accounts without being the account owner -- and that can occur even with encryption. Other of the leaks have allowed theives to gain access to tens of thousands of credit card numbers -- but those numbers might have been gathered by the store or bank by "shop in person" rather than through on-line transactions.
Any online system should be protected by a good firewall, and any online Windows PC should be protected by an anti-virus system. Most of the better-known "personal" firewalls for Windows have noticable security problems. The problems are sufficient that some security workers warn that "personal firewalls" may often end up being a false sense of security -- too much gets through most of them but meanwhile the user -thinks- that they are safe. Unless the user has a good grounding in computer security, in some ways it is almost better -not- to have a "personal firewall" -- to the extent that -not- having one encourages people not to put sensitive information on systems connected to the Internet.