Computer and Web Articles

Question: Hi Erin. I have a secure wireless connection at my home and in my office but when I’m on the road I tend to use a lot of public wi-fi spots. My question is: Is it safe for me to access my bank account information and conduct online banking transactions if I’m not on a secure connection?

Answer: Great question.

The answer is yes, it’s safe.

While it may seem like a frightening concept to access your banking info from an unsecured wireless connection, you’re actually totally, completely fine in doing so. This is because financial institutions encrypt all online banking sessions, meaning that other people cannot access your info while you’re logged in — that’s what the little “lock” at the bottom of the screen means when you login to your bank site.

Just remember that with the exception of when you’re actually viewing these secured pages (ones displaying the lock icon that also have URLs starting with https:// instead of just http://), you should always operate under the assumption that anything you view and send online could potentially be read by others.