Online Security

Keep your Customer ID, Password and personal information private. Do not share them, write them down or store them on your PC. If you think your Password has become known to anyone else, change it immediately. Once you have logged in, do not leave your PC unattended. Log out and close the Northern Rock application when you have completed your session.

Choose a Password that cannot easily be guessed. For instance: do not choose pet or family names, famous people, birth dates - these might be easily guessed; do not use names or items which can be seen from the computer you usually use; use a mixture of letters and numbers.

If you have received a new, single use Password, or if you think your Password has become known to anyone else, change it immediately.

If an incorrect Password is entered three times your Northern Rock Internet access will be locked and you will be required to contact our Customer Services.

The Northern Rock Internet service has been developed with security as a top priority. We implement several layers of security and provide a high level of encryption.

To ensure the highest level of security, access to your online accounts is only possible using your unique Customer ID Number, Password and Security Details. But it is your responsibility to keep these secret. Northern Rock will never ask for your Password over the telephone, in an electronic message, or in any written communication. Passwords and answers to Security Questions will not be displayed when you type them in. As an additional security measure, the system will only allow a single connection with your Customer ID at any point in time.

To help protect against unauthorised access, if there is no activity for 15 minutes your session will be ended.

All messages between us travel in a secure environment and cannot be read by anyone else. Web pages holding your information are secured using Secure Sockets (SSL). Personal information is transmitted using 128-bit encryption. This provides a very high level of protection against anyone on the Internet accessing your personal details.

Northern Rock will not transmit personal information by un-encrypted e-mail. A secure message system is operated to protect against disclosure to third parties. Any e-mail we may send you will have been checked for computer viruses using state-of-the-art technology.

This security information applies only to the Northern Rock web site. If you click on a link that takes you to another web site, please keep in mind that the same security standards may not apply.

Northern Rock views security as a top priority and implements a wide range of security measures to protect your personal information:

Firewalls are used to ensure that your information cannot be accessed by unauthorised users of the system.

We continually monitor and review all transactions to identify any potentially fraudulent behaviour.

Access to information is carefully controlled. Employees have access only to the information they need to perform their jobs. Our security strategy is regularly tested and reviewed.

The way we treat customers' information complies with the Data Protection Act 1988-2003. One of the principles obliges us to regularly review and audit our security arrangements. Access to your personal information within Northern Rock is carefully controlled. Each member of staff is personally responsible for maintaining customer confidentiality and we provide ongoing training to all our staff to remind them about their obligations.

Recent reports have confirmed that some on-line customers of other major Irish and UK banks have become targets of fraudulent e-mail scams, where customers have been requested to provide or confirm their online security details by e-mail. This is referred to as "phishing".

Unfortunately, there is little that Northern Rock, or any other bank can do to stop these e-mails being sent. This is how Northern Rock would communicate with you: -

What we do: -

We only send e-mails containing links to features and information, promotions about Northern Rock's products and services, and secure e-mails regarding account queries. Please note that we will never ask you to provide personal or account information from an e-mail link

What we don't do: -

We will never send e-mails asking you to provide, update or confirm personal or security information, like your account number, password, or security details via e-mail.

Please be extremely vigilant when accessing your online accounts in public places e.g. Internet cafes.

If you do receive an e-mail claiming to be from Northern Rock, asking you to confirm your security details online, it is very important that you do not respond to it. Please forward it, preferably as an attachment, to report.phishing@northernrock.co.uk. We won't be able to reply individually but we do investigate every email to ensure that any fraudulent sites are closed down as quickly as possible.

If you are ever concerned that you may have divulged information, or compromised the security of your login details, please contact our Customer Service line on (01) 480 6050. Lines are open 9am-5pm Monday to Friday. For your protection your calls may be recorded or monitored.