eSIMS is using SSL (Secure Socket Layer) to protect eSIMS web transactions. When a student tries to login to eSIMS (hits the "Login" button), the URL will change from "http://..." to "https://..." and Netscape users will see the lock icon to the left of the status bar.

    We decided to use 128 bit encryption, 128 bit's pretty much the standard now-a-days, 40 bit is just too easy to crack. . Roughly speaking, 128-bit encryption is 309,485,009,821,345,068,724,781,056 times stronger than 40-bit encryption. However, some users may have old browsers (or newer ones with only 56-bit support).

    Unfortunately, cipher strength cannot be detected by a web server or by client-side JavaScript. So, we can't warn someone if their encryption support is inadequate. The most common symptom of this problem is a confusing error page, displayed after clicking on Login, that says: "The page cannot be displayed...". Or, you may see a dialog box that says: "An error occurred in the secure channel support." If you, see this page or message when trying to log in, check your browser's cipher strength.

• Netscape browsers that are lower than ver 6 do not have a 128-bit encryption-only upgrade. You must perform a full upgrade to the latest version of Netscape and specifically request 128-bit Strong Encryption.
• For Netscape 6 and higher you can download the SmartUpdate Plugin which will allow you to update the browser to 128 bit without installing a whole new browser. Go here for more information
  http://cgi.netscape.com/cgi-bin/su/intro.cgi
• If you are using a version of Internet Explorer prior to Version 4, you must perform a full upgrade to Version 5 with 128-bit encryption.
• If you are using Version 4 or later of Internet Explorer, you can perform a partial 128-bit encryption-only upgrade.
• AOL uses the Internet Explorer browser and is subject to the same conditions as Internet Explorer.