In the next few paragraphs, we will discuss what each of these are in terms of commerce, and how the Electronic Banking System addresses each of these areas. To help you understand, we will discuss how your bank answers each of these issues in regard to a monthly bank statement. The bank statement example demonstrates that these ideas are not unique to Internet commerce, but are involved every time you do business.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality means that when your information moves over the Internet, it cannot be read by anyone except you and your bank. Without confidentiality, your banking information would be about as safe as if we were to send you your monthly banking statement without first putting the statement in an envelope. To address confidentiality, we use a technique called encryption. Like the envelope around a bank statement, encryption prevents unintended access to banking information.

Encryption is a mathematical technique that takes information and an encryption key, and converts the information to an unreadable form. The unreadable form is then transmitted over the Internet. When the unreadable form is received, a decryption key decodes the message to its original, readable form. The only way to recover the information is to use the decryption key. This system is called a public-private encryption key system. This name comes from the idea that we will provide our encryption key to anyone who connects to the Electronic Banking System. This is called the public key. The decryption key is installed and locked into the Electronic Banking System and is never given to anyone. This is called the private key.

When you read about people "cracking" into security systems, they do this by guessing the decryption key. The keys that are used in the Electronic Banking System are numbers with over 750 digits. Using a computer, these keys can be guessed by testing each possible key, and checking for a successfully decoded message, but it is estimated that it would take decades to try all possible 750 digit numbers. Since we will be changing the keys used in the Electronic Banking System at least once a year, the possibility of someone guessing the decryption key is very remote.

Integrity

Integrity means that the information sent over the Internet arrives as accurate as it was when the information was sent. Without integrity checks, you could never be sure that the information you received is accurate, or that the information you send to the bank is accurate. To ensure integrity on a bank statement, the bank uses special typefaces and safety paper, so any attempt at altering the original will be difficult to conceal. The Electronic Banking System uses encryption and digital signatures to ensure integrity.

A digital signature is a numeric value that is computed as the information is encrypted. This value is encrypted as part of the unreadable form of the information. The information is then transmitted over the Internet. When the unreadable form is decrypted, the digital signature computation is repeated, and the computed digital signature is compared to the digital signature sent within the message. If the digital signatures match, then the information has maintained integrity. If the digital signatures do not match, then the information is suspect, and is discarded.

Accountability

Accountability means that both you and the bank agree that a transaction has taken place. Without accountability, you could never prove that a missing transaction actually occurred, nor could you prove that an unauthorized transaction added to your account was not yours. The Electronic Banking System uses digital signatures and a three tiered auditing system to ensure that all transactions are valid, and are posted to the correct account.

Digital signatures are used to ensure that the transaction integrity has been maintained. In this case, integrity means that the amount of money and the account numbers in your transaction have remained accurate. Within the Electronic Banking System, a detailed triple redundant audit trail is kept of each transaction. This means that even in the event of power failures, communications errors, or even computer system failures, your transaction will not be lost.

Authenticity

Authenticity means that you know that you are talking to the bank, and that the person communicating with the bank is really you, and only you. Without authentication, anyone could submit transactions to your account claiming to be you. Authentication also means that you can be sure that the server you are connected to is really the bank. To ensure authentication on a bank statement, banks use specially printed paper, special typefaces, and stationery to ensure you the statement is not a forgery.

The Electronic Banking System uses digital certificates and passcodes to ensure Authentication. A digital certificate is a document containing information about the owner of a web server. The digital certificate contains the Internet address of the server, the registered name and mailing address of the owner of the certificate, and digital signatures to prove integrity of the certificate information.

Digital certificates are created and registered with a certificate authority. A certificate authority is a company, similar to the Securities Exchange Commission, which keeps a registry of existing certificates. To get a digital certificate, the bank using the Electronic Banking System had to provide notarized documentation that the bank is a valid business, copies of the bank's federal operating license, and other secure information, to prove that the owner of the digital certificate is really the company that applied for the certificate, and that all of the information in the digital certificate is legally valid.

We use the certificate authority VeriSign, Inc., which has very detailed descriptions of digital certificates on their web pages at:

http://www.verisign.com

We encourage you to visit their web site, they provide excellent discussions about digital certificates and digital signatures.

When you read the Electronic Banking System home page, your browser is sent a copy of the digital certificate registered to the bank. Your browser then takes the digital certificate and the address that was used to access the Electronic Banking System, and sends the information off to VeriSign. Your browser is basically asking VeriSign if the digital certificate really belongs to the bank that you are accessing, and is the address used to access the bank the correct address that is registered with VeriSign. VeriSign responds by acknowledging that all information is valid, or responds indicating that the certificate information does not match the registered copy at VeriSign.

If VeriSign does not agree with the digital certificate, your browser displays a message indicating that the server you are trying to contact may not be valid. If you ever receive this message, DO NOT USE the Electronic Banking System; someone is trying to deceive you into thinking your are connected to the real Electronic Banking System.

This process is invisible to you, but is checking every time you use the Electronic Banking System to ensure the authenticity of the Electronic Banking System. There are plans underway to allow you, a consumer, to get your own digital certificate, which will allow us to verify the authenticity of your information. This is not currently supported by the majority of web browsers, but personal digital certificates are coming soon.

The Electronic Banking System checks if you are using a digital certificate, but does not require you to have digital certificate. Later, when personal digital certificates are easier to obtain, the Electronic Banking System will require you to have one so that we may authenticate you.

Additional Security Features

In addition to the security features described above, we have added a few features to the Electronic Banking System to increase your protection. We will discuss the public portions of the security system that directly affect how you use the system. There are many more pieces of the security system that we will not publicly disclose, to increase your protection and safety.

Passcode Screening

One of the weakest links in a computer system is the passcodes that are selected by the computer system users. This means that the greatest threat to the Electronic Banking System is a potential thief guessing your passcode. To prevent this from happening, we have created a system that will attempt to guess your passcode every time you change your passcode. If our passcode system can guess your passcode, then your passcode was too easy to guess, and is not safe. We will not allow you to use passcodes that are too easy to guess.

Our passcode guessing system works by looking at your name and mailing address, your social security number, telephone number, and the names of your family that are associated with your accounts at the bank. We will also check a dictionary of more than 90,000 words to see if you are using a simple word as your passcode.

As a last attempt, we will check your passcode against 6,000 of the most common women's names, and 4,000 of the most common men's names. If you are trying to use any one of these as a passcode, then we will stop you from using that passcode. This will make selecting a new passcode a little more difficult, but the added protection is well worth the effort.

Parameter Screening

When you are using the Electronic Banking System, we always provide you a list of the valid accounts that you have registered to use in the Electronic Banking System. This is done to make using the system easier, since you are not required to memorize all of your account numbers at the bank.

There are several techniques that allow a potential thief to change the values in the lists as an attempt to access an account that they are not permitted access. Rest assured that each and every request that is made to the Electronic Banking System is screened to verify that the accounts presented in the requests belong to the person making the request. This is put in place to protect against an "inside" attempt at theft. This would involve a potential thief getting an account at the bank, and getting valid access to the Electronic Banking System. The potential thief would then get requests for their own account information, and then attempt to alter the requests to gain access to your account.

We have designed into the Electronic Banking System a special auditing system to specifically track any of these attempts.

Helping Us with Security

Security is possible only if all of the people involved help to maintain security. Your desk is not secure if you leave your keys on the desktop. A vault would not be secure if only one person wrote down the combination on their desk blotter. Our system can only be safe and secure with your assistance. Let's take a moment and discuss how you can help keep this system as safe as possible.

1) Use the Best Possible Passcodes to protect your account.

This cannot be stressed enough. Using a passcode that is easy to guess is like leaving your front door unlocked while you are away on vacation. The Electronic Banking System will not allow you to use your name, address, phone number, birthdays, social security number, or common words as a passcode. We did not add this feature to make choosing a passcode difficult, we added this feature to protect you. Defeating this feature by using your birthday backwards, or combining the names of your two children will only invite trouble. The first items a potential thief will use to break into your account will be your personal information, the personal information of your family, or common names and dictionary words.

The best possible passcode is a long string of random letters and numbers. This is not practical, since you have to memorize your passcode. The best passcode that is easy to remember, is a phrase or set of common words. For instance, passcodes like "AppleBanana" or "WatchClock" are easy to remember, and very difficult to guess. Adding digits to a passcode makes it even more secure. Passcodes like "Gold007Finger" are the best possible choice. Another secure passcode style is to use common words, but change one or more letters to numbers. Examples of this would be passcodes like "Ric4ard" or "5un5hine." The more creative you are, the safer your information.

2) Do not write down your passcode.

This is equivalent to locking your car, and leaving your keys on the hood. If you must write down your passcode, keep the piece of paper safe. A piece of paper with your passcode written on it is as valuable as a key, and should be treated in the same manner. Do not keep passcodes on pieces of paper stuck to your monitor. Do not keep passcodes on pieces of paper in your wallet.

3) Do not tell anyone your passcode.

There is no one else that needs to have your passcode except you. You will never be asked your passcode by any bank personnel. If you are asked for your passcode, call your account representative or a bank officer at the bank immediately.

4) Change your passcode

Using the same passcode over and over again is inviting trouble. If someone discovers your passcode, they are not going to announce to you that your account has been compromised. You may not know for weeks, or months, that your passcode has been discovered. By changing your passcode periodically, you can foil anyone who may have discovered your passcode, or may have discovered a portion of your passcode, and is guessing the remainder. We recommend changing your passcode every 6-8 weeks to keep the best security. More often is better.

5) Do not include account information in email messages.

Unlike the post office, EMAIL over the Internet is not a secure method of conveying information. EMAIL over the Internet is like sending post office mail without using an envelope. EMAIL can be intercepted and read in many ways. The most common method for gaining access to EMAIL is setting your mail program to keep a copy of all messages that you have sent. Many people enjoy this feature, available on many mail programs, but few people have passcode protection on their mail programs.

Never include account numbers, balances, access ids, or account numbers in an EMAIL message. If you use EMAIL to ask questions regarding accounts, refer to the accounts by name, rather than number. Ask questions about 'my money market account' rather than using account numbers. If you must ask questions using a specific account number, give us a call, or come to see us. We will be happy to assist you.

"The balance in your Money Market Savings Account fell below your specified balance of $1000."

This gives you enough information to remind you of which account, and the current balance level, but does not provide enough information for a potential thief to use to gain access to your account. We do not break any of the rules we ask you to follow.

6) Do not leave an unattended browser signed onto your account.

Many people are not aware that once a browser is signed onto an account, the browser remains signed onto the account until you leave the program. Also remember that many browsers keep a copy of the pages you have read in memory. This is why you can use the BACK button on your browser to retrieve pages so quickly. The pages are not being read from the server, but are being drawn from the copy kept in memory. This is called web page caching. Some browsers go even farther by keeping copies of pages that you have already read on your hard disk drive. If you have web page caching enabled, be sure you understand where the web pages are being cached, and be sure you are aware of who will have access to the computer you will use to access the Electronic Banking System.

If you leave your browser running after you have viewed Electronic Banking System pages, you are inviting a potential thief to simply use the BACK key to gain access to your account information. For best safety, disable hard disk caching of web pages, and when you are finished using the Electronic Banking System, exit your browser.