How do you know if a website is ligit?

Answer 1

This is a great question because there many phishing web sites on the web pretending to be someone else. One way this danger is presented is in an email, or on a web page, providing a link to "well known web site" that actually miss-directs the user to a phishing site.

Current Web Browsers, such as internet Explorer 8 provide anti-phishing filters to protect users from phishing.

Legitimate web sites, especially those involved in E-commerce, will offer SSL Encryption for the protection of their visitors/customers sensitive information. This is accomplished using a Security Certificate. Web site owners purchase a certificate through an Issuing Authority, an independent authority that verifies the owner of the domain, and the location of the business. Sites that offer this type of security will display the well known "padlock icon" in your browser's address bar, and https:// is the protocol for their URL.

There are two levels of encryption 1024 bit and 2048 bit. The higher the number the better the encryption. I personally use 2048 bit encryption for my web site, in the USA, but in Europe 1024 bit is commonly used.