Online Security
Frontgate offers a secure online commerce environment. All credit transactions occur in a secure area of our site, protecting you from loss or misuse of information. The transfer of sensitive information between you and Frontgate is protected by the highest standard of encryption technology available on the Internet.
Public/private key cryptography enables the creation of a secure "conversation" between your browser and our secure server. While this conversation could potentially be "overheard," it cannot be decrypted.
How You Can Tell You're Browsing a Secure Website
In order to be sure that information transferred between your browser and the Frontgate server is secure, it is important to be aware of the security information available to you through your browser.
Once you enter the Checkout process (when you're ready to purchase the items you have placed in your shopping cart), your connection to our server becomes secure. These security features are enacted automatically; you do not have to take any action to invoke them. To confirm that you are operating in secure mode, look at the bottom of your browser window. If you see an unbroken key or a closed lock (depending upon your browser) you can be sure that your information is secure.
Example of a "closed lock" symbol in an Internet Explorer Browser:
Example of a "closed lock" symbol in a Netscape Communicator Browser:
You can also ensure security by checking the URL line of your browser. When you enter the secure area of our site, the first characters of the site address will change from "http" to "https".
Example of a secure URL in an Internet Explorer Browser:
Example of a secure URL in a Netscape Communicator Browser:
Data Encryption & Risk of Decryption
Frontgate makes use of a 128-bit encryption key issued by RSA Data Security, Inc. When a secure connection is initiated, our server's public key is automatically transferred to your browser. Your browser then uses this key to encrypt information transferred back to Frontgate. This information can only be decrypted using the private key installed on Frontgate's secure server.
You may have read in the news that the RC4 encryption algorithm had been broken. In fact, a single message which had been encrypted using the less powerful 40-bit key was successfully decrypted. However, decrypting this single message utilized 120 computer workstations and two parallel supercomputers spread across three major research centers for more than 8 days. Decrypting additional messages would take the same amount of time and resources. The 128-bit encryption key has not been broken.
Top 10 Online Smart Shopping TipsVisit the Direct Marketing Association's Top 10 Online Smart Shopping Tips for safety tips and precautions to take when shopping online. The DMA Consumer Assistance Web site also offers consumer protection information for shopping online, by phone, or by mail.
Contacting the Webmaster
We've worked hard to bring you a secure online commerce environment, and we value your questions, comments, and concerns. If you have any feedback about our Web site security, please contact us via email or via regular mail:
Webmaster
5566 West Chester Road
West Chester, OH 45069