- Info
Statement on CIA Website Enhancement
July 17, 2006
Effective July 17, the Central Intelligence Agency website began using
industry-standard SSL
[external link disclaimer] (secure sockets layer) to enable secure communications between visitors'
browsers and our Web server and a digital SSL server certificate issued
by a trusted commercial Certificate Authority to authenticate that visitors
are connected to the CIA website and not a copy of it. Currently, the
site uses an SSL certificate only to protect information submitted by
visitors through the website's three comment forms and the CIA Careers
resume form.
SSL and/or the digital certificate will:
-
provide authentication that the website is the CIA website and not a copy of it.
-
ensure visitors' privacy when browsing pages or submitting information;
-
and
ensure that data exchanged between the website and the visitor's
browser cannot be tampered with or altered while transiting the
Internet.
Implementing
SSL has practical consequences: The site's address (URL) will change
from http://www.cia.gov to https://www.cia.gov. As a result:
To
minimize inconvenience, visitors trying to connect to the old address
for the CIA, the CIA Careers, and the World Factbook home pages will be
taken directly to the requested page at the new address. Those
attempting to view any other page or document will be taken to an
interim page designed to help them find what they are looking for.
We
believe the inconveniences of implementing SSL for the entire website
will be offset by increased visitor confidence that they are, in fact,
connected to the CIA website and that their visits are secure and
confidential.
Historical Document
Posted: May 02, 2007 06:49 PM
Last Updated: Jun 17, 2008 03:45 PM
Last Reviewed: May 02, 2007 06:49 PM