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Online Banking Resources
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Online Banking Security
We use the best available technology in security, firewalls and encryption to ensure that your accounts are safe. Security is a priority. First of all, your account is password protected. Even if someone knows your account number, they cannot access your accounts without your password. For your safety, if this password is input incorrectly five times, the account is automatically locked (you can contact us at info@onpointcu.com if you forget your password.)
Also, Online Banking uses encryption to send and receive account information and transactions. This means that information is "garbled" as it is transmitted via the Internet. The garbled information is translated after it reaches OnPoint's secure system. Your accounts (and our computer system) are not located on the Internet or Web. They are only accessed from behind a "firewall." A firewall is a security barrier set up between a company's internal systems and outside systems. Firewalls are designed to keep hostile visitors out and to protect a company's internal information.
Authentication
In order to use Online Banking you must have:
- Member Number and Online Banking password
- PC or Macintosh
- Internet connection
- A recommended browser (see below)
Browser, OS and Platform Requirements
You must use a browser that supports encryption. We recommend Netscape Communicator 7.2 or higher or Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x (includes AOL 8 & 9). If you are using a Macintosh computer, you may also use Safari V1.2 or Mozilla Firefox 1.0. The browsers we recommend offer a higher encryption, giving you increased security.
Network Security & Monitoring
OnPoint has established security controls and procedures to safeguard the information you provide us and the information we collect about you. Any information exchanged between OnPoint and our membership via the Internet relies on industry standard 128-bit SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption. Electronic mail by itself is generally not a secure method of communication. If we ask you for information other than your name, address, e-mail address, and phone number via the Internet, it will be obtained using 128-bit SSL encryption.
The network architecture used to provide the online banking service was designed by the brightest minds in network technology. The architecture is too complex to explain here, but it is important to convey that the computers storing your actual account information are not linked directly to the Internet.
- Transactions initiated through the Internet are received by our online banking Web servers
- These servers route your transaction through firewall servers
- Firewall servers act as a traffic cop between segments of our online banking network used to store information, and the public Internet.
This configuration isolates the publicly accessible Web servers from data stored on our online banking servers and ensures only authorized requests are processed.
Various access control mechanisms, including intrusion detection and anti-virus, monitor for and protect our systems from potential malicious activity. Additionally, our online banking servers are fault-tolerant, and provide for uninterruptible access, even in the event of various types of failures.
Security Features
We provide a number of additional security features in online banking. For example, online banking will "timeout" after a specified period of inactivity. This prevents curious persons from continuing your online banking session if you left your PC unattended without logging out. You may set the timeout period in online banking's User Options screen. We recommend that you always sign off (log out) when done banking online.
Encryption
The privacy of communications between you (your browser) and our servers is ensured via encryption. Encryption scrambles messages exchanged between your browser and our online banking server.
How Encryption Works
- When visiting online banking's sign-on page, your browser establishes a secure session with our server.
- The secure session is established using a protocol called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Encryption. This protocol requires the exchange of what are called public and private keys.
- Keys are random numbers chosen for that session and are only known between your browser and our server. Once keys are exchanged, your browser will use the numbers to scramble (encrypt) the messages sent between your browser and our server.
- Both sides require the keys because they need to descramble (decrypt) messages received. The SSL protocol assures privacy, but also ensures no other website can "impersonate" your financial institution's website, nor alter information sent.
- To learn whether your browser is in secure mode, look for the secured lock symbol at the bottom of your browser window.
Encryption Level
The numbers used as encryption keys are similar to combination locks. The strength of encryption is based on the number of possible combinations a lock can have. The more possible combinations, the less likely someone could guess the combination to decrypt the message.
For your protection, our servers require the browser to connect at 128-bit encryption (versus the less-secure 40-bit encryption). Users will be unable to access online banking functions at lesser encryption levels. This may require some end users to upgrade their browser to the stronger encryption level.
To determine if your browser supports 128-bit encryption:
- Click "Help" in the toolbar of your Internet browser
- Click on "About [browser name]"
- A pop-up box or window will appear.
- For Internet Explorer: next to "Cipher strength" you should see "128-bit"
- For Netscape: you should see "This version supports high-grade (128-bit) security with RSA Public Key Cryptography"
If your browser does not support 128-bit encryption, you must upgrade to continue to access the website's secure pages.
Firefox and Safari browsers and DI
July 2005 --
- Firefox and Safari - Encryption levels
Both browsers recently designated as supported for use with DI products, Firefox 1.0 and Safari 1.2, use strong 128-bit encryption when accessing secure sites, to ensure safe and secure transmittal of private data such as account and payment information.
- Firefox and Safari - How end users can determine which levels of encryption they have
- Firefox - In Firefox, this option is not visible until connected to a site. Negotiation occurs between the client browser and the server at run-time. To view the encryption level being used while connected to a specific secure site, you can do the following:
- Click to the 'Tools' menu
- Select 'Page Info'
- Click the 'Security' tab
Or: double-click the yellow 'lock' icon in the lower right corner of the screen while connected to a secure site.
- Safari - The Safari browser displays a 'lock' icon at the top right corner of the browser window when you're viewing a secure (https://) site. This symbol is absent when viewing an unsecured (http://) site. Safari can use both 40-bit and 128-bit "strong" encryption; the website determines which level of encryption is used at a given time.
Other browsers that support 128-bit encryption also may work. More information on some common browsers is available via these links:
Session Cookies
The OnPoint servers use session cookies to ensure account confidentiality and security. Session cookies do not collect information from the users computer; they store password-protected information in the form of a session identification that does not personally identify the user. A cookie is stored temporarily and is not retained after the session ends.
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