Why does this website show up as not secured. I'm nervous even joining.
The address of the site begins with http instead of https. Whatever else is involved would involve stuff I am not familier with.
to the forum.
It means anyone can see what you post in the forum. You should not post your email address or your credit card number. Other than that everyone sees what we post anyway. They don't even have to join, except to reply
https://www.digicert.com/blog/not-secure-warning-what-to-do/
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Soupy Why does this website show up as not secured. I'm nervous even joining.
Communication between your browser and the web server is not encrypted.
Don't use the same password(s) you use for important things like banking (you shouldn't anways) because in theory if someone actually monitored your activity they could see everything that goes back and forth in plain text.
"Secure" sites use end-to-end data encryption for all communication, so someone can't steal your passwords and personal information for your banking, credit cards, etc. where you're doing online banking or shopping.
Chris van der Heide
My Algoma Central Railway Modeling Blog
BigDaddy It means anyone can see what you post in the forum. You should not post your email address or your credit card number. Other than that everyone sees what we post anyway. They don't even have to join, except to reply
That's actually NOT what it means, although all of that is still true and STILL WOULD BE even if the site had secure connection(s).
I agree about the passwords. There is nothing that normally goes on in this forum that needs to be encrypted. If you do anything with your MR subsciption, they take you to an encrypted https site to do it.
There are tracking cookies on this site and sometimes they target ads for you based on your tracking from other sites. Some of us aren't thrilled by that, but it's the price of having a free site.
It is good that this website is not secure. Most of us posting on it are not secure either ("is my modeling good enough? am I in the right scale? do I have to scrape off ALL of my plastic grab irons? do I dare to eat a peach?").
Dave Nelson
dknelson It is good that this website is not secure. Most of us posting on it are not secure either ("is my modeling good enough? am I in the right scale? do I have to scrape off ALL of my plastic grab irons? do I dare to eat a peach?"). Dave Nelson
Dave, you crafty guy you....
It's a hosted site on which nothing secure should be found, except maybe people who are in various states of 'security'. No private info that could be used against anyone, certainly no financial information, home addresses, etc.
Don't sweat it. The site is going to get its long overdue update in the next few months, but is safe to use until then for talking about trains, etc.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I have been on here for fourteen years and nothing nefarious has happened so far. If I type my name into Google, absolutely nothing comes up, I have zero internet presence and I would like to keep it that way.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
The media and tech companies have succeeded in their mission to make the average person deathly afraid of everything. It's not like a site using HTTPS is magically unbreakable and you information can't get out (though the truth of the matter is, that's seldom how these big data breaches leaking usernames and passwords occur - more often it's some user click the good old "your Amazon package has been delayed email" which, if you simply hover over the link without clicking is, clearly is NOT an Amazon site. Or click on a link supposedly from some bacnk they don;t even have an account at - why would you click on something in an email that claims to be from American Express when you don't even have an American Express card? Seriously - some times I have little sympathy. Ther ARE some well-crafted phishing emails that really look legit but there is always that link, unless the hackers have hijacked the real company's web site, that link is going to go to some other url, not the real company that the email claims it is from. Just look before you click.)
As for here - I've always considered what's the worse that can happen? Someone gets my email address? Great - welcome to the 100's of other spammers, since it's the address I use to sign up for things online. The one I use with family and friends? I don't give that one out to web sites, and amazingly - it gets no spam, not even caught and not displayed. I don't use this password anywhere else - so what are you going to do, start posting as me? It would be pretty obvious to anyone who has been around for any amount of time that it wasn't me. So - I don't really worry about it.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
It doesn't take long every time I come to this site. Before I enter I get a flash screen from my mobile phone provider, Warning hackers ahead and a return to safety bar.
Every time I'm here I get phony screens that take over from a phony Google saying I'm the billionth customer, click here to claim your prize.
And now a new one from a major phone company saying I'm the millionth customer, click here for a chance to win $50,000.
Sometimes I can't click out of them and I have to close out everything and start over.
Oh yeah, ...I click on those, pick me! pick me!
TF
100% agree. If the OP was very worried, either don't join or create a dummy email account. Not everywhere has the 247365 coverage of Amazon or Target. Not like Target's been hacked. Oh wait?! Nevermind.
I don't even bother browsing much with my phone - the same sort of ad blocking just isn't available like I have on my desktop - which sees NONE of that junk, just the content.
I don't have a fancy phone, just a little LG flip phone. EVERYTHING I do on line, as with in here, is on a desk top, or my lap top.
If the OP feels unsafe, then don't join! Real simple. I have no problems with security issues.
Mike.
My You Tube
Soupy I'm nervous even joining.
You don't need to be. I have been a member of the forums since 2013 and I have made more than 12,000 posts. Not once have I had a problem.
A lot of people seem to have trouble with pop up ads. I use a PC with Ad Block Plus and I never get pop ups except for the occasional one from Kalmbach themselves.
By the way, welcome to the forums!!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I think the points to the OP has been made. It's his choice whether he wants to join or not. Let's get back to discussions about MRRing...
Thanks,
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.