Internet security question
 

Why does this box pop up sometimes when I am about to type in a password... most commonly when I am about to type in my screen name and password to access Yahoo Mail? And it's only some of the time... not every time.

http://i518.photobucket.com/albums/u...ecurityBox.jpg

It happens on the work and the home PC.

I always just "X out" and try again later. Sometimes just opening another browser window does the trick.

Sometimes means that the page is pulling images from a regular web server (http://), not a secure one (https://)..

Right. Look for the lock in the bottom right of the browser when entering data. You'll see it when a page pulls non encrypted (http not https) data from an encrypted page.

So... can bad things happen if I click "Yes" and type my login info, or am I doing the right thing?

If you are sure that you typed in the correct web address, then things should be OK.

I see these errors when I buy hardware from mom and pop type web stores. It has yet to stop me from buying from their site.

It's usually just bad site/page design and benign.

But bad site/page design is not necc something you want when dealing with what should be a secure site.

Most people just turn off the browser notification.

Check the page to see if there is an option to encrypt everything. If not, use your best judgment. Always verify the url before you enter personal data and/or passwords.