1. What is a browser and what does it do?
   
2. How can I determine if I am on a secure site?
   
3. What is encryption?
   

1. What is a browser and what does it do?

A browser is a software program that enables you to visit Web sites and view Web pages on your computer screen. Just as a word processor is the software you use to write letters and papers with your computer, a browser is the software you use to surf the Web.

Once on a site, your browser translates HTML programming instructions sent over the Internet into the web pages you are accustomed to seeing. TD Bank Financial Group only supports 128-bit encrypted browsers and most of the browsers developed today come with this level of encryption installed.

2. How can I determine if I am on a secure site?

When you visit other Web sites, you can determine if encryption is being used on a given Web page by looking for the following icons in the lower portion of your browser:

Browser	Secure	Not Secure
Netscape Navigator or Communicator
Microsoft Internet Explorer		No Icon

• Netscape Navigator displays the encryption icon in the lower left hand corner of the browser.

• In addition to the above, Netscape Communicator displays the icon in the navigation toolbar.

• Microsoft Internet Explorer displays the icon in the lower right corner of the browser.

3. What is encryption?

Encryption is the process of converting information into a more secure format for transmission. In other words the plain text is converted to scrambled code while being transmitted, and then decrypted back to plain text at the receiving end of the transmission.

There are two levels of encryption: Standard encryption and “High” or “Strong” encryption.

• Standard encryption refers to 40-bit or 56-bit encryption. There are 2⁴⁰ or 2⁵⁶ possible keys that could fit into the lock that holds your account information, which means there are many billions (a 1 followed by 12 zeroes) of possible keys.

• “High” or “Strong” encryption refers to 128-bit encryption. There are 2⁸⁸ (a three followed by 26 zeroes) times as many key combinations as there are for 40-bit encryption. That means a computer would require exponentially more processing power to find the correct key than for 40-bit encryption.

In order to use EasyWeb Internet Banking or TD Waterhouse WebBroker, customers need access to a supported browser with 128-bit encryption, which is the highest level of encryption generally available.