Website Security

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There are two aspects to security on this site, security for data in motion (data you send and receive from the website) and security for data at rest (data stored on the website servers). 

First, you may have noticed that the site has a security verification logo (a small green lock icon or similar icon, depending on your browser) at the top left of the browser, just to the left of the URL, or website address. This logo certifies that the site uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to conduct encrypted transactions between you and the server where  the website is hosted (data in motion). Banks and online merchants use this type of security so that your financial transactions cannot be intercepted and understood by a cyber thief. 

While we do not do financial transactions on our website at this time, we have in the past, and may again in the future, store some information on the website that many residents consider sensitive--the Hunt directory with names, addresses, phone numbers, etc., being the obvious example. SSL prevents someone from accessing this  information while it is moving between a resident accessing the  information and the server it is stored on. You may have also noticed that your connection to the website has a URL that starts,  "https://...".  The 's' after 'http' indicates 'secure'.

The second type of security is access security to protect stored data (data at rest). We have little or no control over this. Information provided to the host servers (the information on these webpages and the documents that can be downloaded) are only as secure as the host makes them. Fortunately, it is in their interest to keep them secure, so we generally have little risk in keeping things there--at least not the items that we have chosen to store on the website.

We do have some protection from non-Hunt residents and homeowners. GoDaddy has added password protection to their Website Builder toolset and we have incorporated this to protect our Board minutes and Directory. To access these documents, you must create an account which has to be approved by the webmaster before the person is allowed to access the protected files.

 
So, to answer the question, "Is our website secure?", the answer is, "Transactions (communication between the user and the McLean Hunt website) are always securely encrypted and information stored on the host servers is as secure as the host is able to make it and as we, the homeowners and residents who keep our account access passwords secure, make it."

Contact the Webmaster if you have additional questions.