Security and Cookies

The security of your financial information is very important to us. Identification numbers and encryption technology have been used to ensure that our online share dealing service is a safe and secure environment.
Here is some information about the security of your account:

• Cookies

• Password Security

• Security Steps
• Monitoring your Account
• Security Software
• Keep your computer up to date
• Phishing/ Common Scams

• Trojans

• Useful Links
  
  

Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer when you visit some websites. They allow the website to recognise you when you revisit and can also track your journey around a website.

We use cookies on our website for the following reasons:

• to save your User ID and surname on the login page

• so we can identify which pages of our websites our clients are visiting

• to identify you after you have logged in

• to temporarily store details input into our calculators, tools, illustrations and demonstrations

• to store details of your marketing and product preferences and enhance your journey through our site

• to evaluate the effectiveness of the advertising and promotions on our website (we own the anonymous data collected, which is not shared with anyone).
  
  

To log into our website you need to enable cookies within your web browser. To enable cookies in your browser, please follow these steps:

Firefox	Internet Explorer 7 & 8
Go to the ‘Tools’ menu in Firefox Select ‘Options’ In the new window go to the ‘Privacy’ tab Now select ‘Exceptions’ In the window that opens, type in the text box ‘www.stockbrokers.barclays.co.uk’ Select ‘Enable’ then ‘Close’ Now select ‘OK’ in the ‘Options’ window to close this down	Go to the ‘Tools’ menu in Internet Explorer Select ‘Internet Options’ In the new window go to the ‘Privacy’ tab Now select ‘Sites’ In the window that opens, type in the text box ‘barclays.co.uk’ Select ‘Allow’ then ‘OK’ Now select ‘OK’ in the ‘Internet Options’ window to close this down

Password security

Your password, memorable word and memorable word hint are the keys to your online accounts and information security.

• You should keep them secure and never share them with anybody.

• Change your password regularly and avoid having the same password for different services.

• Ensure your passwords are as secure as possible. Use a long password that contains letters in both upper and lower case as well as numbers.

• Ensure that your memorable word is difficult to guess and your hint does not contain your memorable word or password (or make your memorable word easy to guess).

• Be wary of unsolicited phone calls or emails requesting you to disclose your personal security information. If in any doubt, please contact the bank/institution using a contact route you are confident with.

• We will never send an unsolicited email requesting you to disclose your security details. You will only receive an email about your password from Barclays Stockbrokers if you go through the Password Reset Process.

• Be aware when you access the internet – do not access sensitive websites such as online banking or email accounts from public access points. Ensure you do not choose to ‘save’ passwords or login details to any computers other than your own.

 

Security steps

There are a number of steps you can take to help protect yourself and your accounts online. We have listed some of the easiest and most effective ways to help protect yourself.

Monitoring your account

Regularly monitor your account for unusual or unknown transactions. You can do this by logging into the website and accessing the deal and account history.

If you identify a transaction you don’t recognise, please contact us immediately

Security software

It’s highly recommended that you have a firewall and anti-virus software installed on your computer if you access the internet. These programs help prevent hackers accessing your computer and identify computer viruses and other pieces of malware.

There are many different choices out there, so we suggest you ask around friends and family to see what they use. We have included a couple of links below to the more commonly used firewalls and anti-virus providers.

Remember, if you’re a Barclays Bank customer you can download Kaspersky Internet Security Suite from free.  Please visit the Barclays Bank website for more information.

Keep your computer and browser up to date

Software vendors will regularly release updates to their software to patch security issues. Regularly updating your browser and operating system will help protect your security.

What to do if your details are compromised

If you think your account has been compromised, it’s important that you telephone us as soon as possible. We will then be able to secure your account and verify any transactions made on your account.

Please note that you may not be able to trade on your account while we secure your account, but we will aim to do this as quickly as possible to minimise any disruption.

Phishing/ Common Scams

New scam emails come out every day, either promising a way to make money quickly or asking you to confirm security details via email.

At Barclays (like most other banks in the UK) we will never ask you to confirm your security details via email (other than the password reset email that you have to request).

Most scams are easy to spot. To help you identify most scams, have a look at our tips below:

• If it’s too good to be true, it probably is - there is no such thing as a free lunch.

• Look out for poor spelling and grammar. Most scam emails are very badly written.

• Most scam emails will not be personalised, e.g. they will start ‘Dear Customer’. If we need you to contact us to confirm any sensitive account information, we will usually personalise the email with your name.

• Look out for links in the email that go to an address made up of  numbers only or a strange name or string of letters e.g

If you receive an email that you believe could be a scam, please forward it to stockbrokers@barclayswealth.com for investigation.

Trojans

Trojans are hidden programs commonly downloaded to your computer without your knowledge or consent, and are designed to give control of your computer to a hacker or to gather information about you as you use your computer.

They can record your key strokes with the aim of capturing any of your online user IDs, passwords and other sensitive details. They can also divert you to fake banking websites in an attempt to capture your user ID and passwords. The captured details can then be passed on to the hacker. They can also access or delete files stored on your computer and even view what is on your screen.

If you are using anti-virus software, this should detect and destroy any Trojan that may be downloaded on your computer but for this to be effective, you must keep the software up to date. There are a number of specialist software programs that claim to detect and remove Trojans. See the manufacturers' websites for further details.

Useful Links

Below are some useful links which provide more information on internet security and ways to become more secure:

Anti-virus and firewall vendors:

Further Information on email scams and online security is available at:

www.antiphishingworkgroup.com
www.getsafeonline.org
www.banksafeonline.org.uk