For most Web browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator, a secure, encrypted session will be indicated by a closed padlock or an unbroken key icon that appears in the lower left or right hand corner of the browser window. You may also check the address bar of your browser. If the Web site address starts with "https://" rather than the standard "http://" then the session is secured.

Digital certificates are issued by certification authorities to authenticate a Web site or elements of Web sites. The certificate identifies the originator of the site, or element, and verifies that it has not been tampered with. When your Web browser is presented with a certificate, it will check to see if a legitimate certification authority issued the certificate. If there is a match, your session will continue. Otherwise, your browser will issue a warning and your safest action is to cancel your activity.

40-bit and 128-bit refer to the size of the key used to encrypt information. To use the lock and key analogy, the greater the number of keys, the more difficult it is to find the correct key to fit into the lock that protects the information. Therefore, the larger the size of the encryption level, the more difficult it is to find the right key to unlock the information.

You can test the encryption level supported by your browser by running our browser test. Alternatively, you can manually check the encryption level your browser supports by following the instructions provided in your browser's documentation.

For added security, we recommend that you use a browser that supports at least 128-bit encryption to access our secure Web sites. To conduct online financial transactions, we require that your browser supports 128-bit encryption.

If a secure session is established and the information is encrypted during transmission, then others will not be able to view your information. However, you should be aware that some Web browsers will store information on your computer even after you are finished conducting your online activities, this is called caching. Therefore, you should close your browser once you are finished using the Internet, particularly if you visit secure sites to conduct financial transactions, check account balances or view any other information that you regard as private and confidential.

Email sent over the Internet is generally not secure unless it is encrypted. In reality, most email programs currently do not have this capability. To send us an email securely, we recommend that you do so by using the secure email function provided by some online services like Online Banking.

One of the security mechanisms we use to protect our systems and your information is called a firewall. Our firewalls use a combination of industrial strength computer hardware and software that is designed to securely separate the Internet from our Internal Web servers, computer systems, networks and databases. During your secure online sessions with Laxmi iBank Web sites, firewalls prevent unauthorized Internet traffic from entering our Web severs, systems and network.