First Investors Federal Savings Bank SMART Security Policy

SMART is committed to making sure that your online account information is safe and secure. Because we use state-of-the-art encryption technology and each customer will have his or her own confidential password, we are confident that access to your accounts is private and secure.

You play a role in security

While SMART works to protect your privacy, you also play a role in protecting your account information. There are a number of steps you can take to ensure that your account information will remain safe and secure.

Five Ways to protect yourself

1. First and foremost, don't reveal your online password to anyone else. Your online password is designed to protect the privacy of your financial information, but it will only work if you keep it to yourself. If you think your online password has been compromised, change it immediately online.
2. Don't walk away from your computer if you are in the middle of a session.
3. Once you have finished your session on the Internet, always sign off before visiting other Internet sites.
4. If anyone else is likely to use your computer, clear your cache or turn off and re-initiate your browser in order to eliminate copies of web pages that have been stored on your hard drive. How you clear your cache will depend on the browser and version you have. This function is generally found in your preferences menu.
5. SMART strongly recommends that you use a browser with 128-bit encryption to conduct secure financial transactions over the Internet.

Encryption made less cryptic

Encryption helps protect information so that it cannot be intercepted and read by a third party.

Encryption is the scrambling of information for transmission back and forth between two points. A key is required to decode the information. When you request information about your accounts, the request is sent in encrypted form to SMART. We then decode your request for information and send it back to you in an encrypted format. When you receive it, your information is decoded so that you can read it.

Until recently, no encryption requiring a key greater than 40-bit was permitted to be exported outside of the United States and Canada. 40-bit encryption is known as international level or export-grade encryption. The significantly stronger 128-bit encryption is referred to as U.S. and Canada only level or domestic-grade encryption.

If you are currently using a browser with 40-bit encryption, we'd like you to upgrade now. With the release of 128-bit encryption capability and digital identity verification, you can download a Netscape or Microsoft browser that provides the highest level of encryption commercially available.

40 or 128-bit encryption - How to tell the difference

Most browser versions let you easily check your level of encryption:

• For Microsoft browsers: When viewing an encrypted page, there will be a lock icon in the right side of the status bar. Hold your mouse over the icon to get a display of encryption level.
• For Mozilla/Netscape browsers (including Firefox): When viewing an encrypted page, there will be a lock icon in the right side of the status bar. Double-click the lock to get details on encryption level.

Keeping the Internet safe

We have a precise authentication process to ensure that when you request information on your account, only you receive the information.

Our firewall protects SMART's systems by allowing entry only to those who are authorized.

For digital identity verification, we have a SMART digital server certificate by VeriSign that your browser uses each time you sign on to verify that indeed you are connected to SMART.