Internet Security

Tri-County Bank understands that the security of your personal account information is important. We understand that success in online banking relies on both our ability to offer banking services to you in a secure manner as well as your responsibility in keeping any access codes, passwords, or PINs secure. With the proper safety measures in place, your online banking transactions remain safe and secure. The following measures have been taken to ensure your privacy, as well as some steps you can take.

Encryption

We use the latest encryption technology to ensure that your private information cannot be intercepted. Encryption is a method of scrambling information while it moves from one source to another to prevent others from reading it.

Unique ID and Password

To access account information, you must provide an Access ID and a password to enter the secure area of the site. Your password is not displayed when entered. If you do not provide this information, we cannot establish an online banking service for you. Never share your Password with anyone. Never write it down where anyone can find it or figure out what it is. Be sure that you do not use common words that can be found in a dictionary, or numbers in a series. Try using unrelated words and numbers combined together. We require that your password be at least 8 characters in length and contain at least one alpha character. Never access the banking site from a computer that an untrusted individual may have access to. Treat your Access ID and Password with as much care as you would for your Automated teller machine (ATM) or credit card personal identification number (PIN). With the PIN, you need to present the card. Here you only have the password. In addition, you should make sure that no one is physically watching as you enter your password. Also take standard precautions to keep your computer free from viruses because there are some that could be used to capture your keystrokes. Tri-County Bank will require you to change your password every 60 days. This step provides additional security should someone get access to your password. Tri-County Bank will disable your password after 3 incorrect attempts to log in. In case this should happen, you will need to contact the bank to have your password reset.

Please use our "Log Out" feature if you are going to be away from your computer for an extended period of time. The logout will end your session and you will be forced to submit your username and password before entering the web site again. Shutting down your browser is also a good way of preventing others from using your access.

After a period of 15 minutes of inactivity your current session on the web site will automatically timeout. To restart your session, all you have to do is re-enter your username and password at the log in screen.

Email

Remember that e-mail is not secure against interception, and you should be cautious when sending e-mail with personal information. If your information is personal or contains confidential items-such as your bank account number or Social Security number-you should contact us by phone or postal mail.

Firewalls

Our server is isolated from the network by a firewall. The purpose of a firewall is to ensure only authorized traffic is allowed to pass to our Bank systems and networks-all other traffic from the Internet is rejected. Firewalls also create logs of network traffic that allow for centralized auditing and security monitoring. Intrusion Detection Systems allows us to watch for unusual activity or attempts to "hack in" to our system. Once your information has been entered, we use an encrypted network to transport data between all our systems and our partners systems to make online banking secure and to protect your personal information.

How You Can Protect Your Internet Security

While Tri-County Bank works to protect your banking privacy, you will also need to protect your accounts. There are a number of steps you can take including but not limited to:

  • Keep your password to yourself
  • Change your password when required or before if necessary
  • Do not leave the computer unattended until all Online Banking transactions are complete.
  • Log out of Online Banking prior to visiting other Internet sites.
  • If you notice suspicious or unusual activity on your Online Banking accounts, call the bank immediately.

Other tips to keep you safe online:

  • Use caution when a pop-up asks you to install or update software or toolbars when online.
  • Follow the advice of warning messages that appear on sites that are known hacker sites. Still use caution when warning messages ask you to install software though, they should only warn you the threat exists.
  • Use Encrypted connections. An easy way to spot that you are using an encrypted connection is the lock symbol in the address bar like below:

  • You should verify you have the correct host name. Hackers will make fake sites with host names that look similar to real sites, but will usually be misspelled (www.yahoooo.com), use numbers in the place of letters (www.g00gle). Instead of ending in .com, .org or other common endings, fake sites will have odd endings like .buzz or .lol
  • You should check to make sure the link is going to take you where it says before clicking on it. If you are asked to click a link, hover the mouse over the link, this will bring up the address of where the link is going to go. Make sure the address is legitimate before you click on it.