Login FAQ

Is my information safe?

Our server uses the strongest form of encryption to ensure that your data is safe. It uses the latest version of OpenSSL to encrypt everything sent between your computer and the webserver. Personal information is stored in a password-protected database. It is probably safe to say that Alpha Theta has the most comprehensive and secure fraternity website in the entire world!

MIT Certificate Authority

Security is all about trust. There are a handful of organzations (VeriSign, etc.) which issue "certificates" to trust websites. Internet browsers come built-in with a list of the most important trusted organizations. Whenever you sign into a secure website, it checks who administered the site's certificate against the list of trusted organizations. If it is part of the list, it lets you log in without problems.

Normally, you have to purchase a certificate from one of these organizations. However, MIT is also a trusted organization, and offers free certificates to MIT affiliated sites. Unfortunately, MIT is not part of the standard list of trusted organizations installed automatically in your browser -- it doesn't issue nearly enough certificates a year to be part of that set! In order for you to log into our website without error, you need to explicitly say that you trust MIT-issued certificates. To do so, you must install the MIT certificate authority, available here. We highly recommend that you do so.

Firefox 2 Install

To install the MIT Certificate Authority in Firefox, first, click here. In a popup, it will ask you what purposes you wish to trust the authority for. Select all three. Click okay, and you are finished installing the MIT Certificate Authority. You should now be able to login to the website without any errors.

Internet Explorer 7 Install

Step 1: Click here to begin the process.

Step 2: Click "Open".

Step 3: Click "Install Certificate ...".

Step 4: Click "Next >".

Step 5: Click "Next >".

Step 6: Click "Finish".

Step 7: Click "Yes".

Step 8: Click "OK", and exit all the other windows.

Step 9: You are finished installing the MIT Certificate Authority. You should now be able to login to the website without any errors.