Abstract :
Today´s Internet is a virtually free resource. Its existence is based upon end-users freely communicating in an open environment. However, this free and open environment does not imply any value beyond the ability to communicate. Thus most of the information currently being exchanged is not deemed “valuable” in the business sense. However, as more and more business-related information is made available on the Internet, the exposure of that information to unauthorized disclosure or modification becomes a real issue. What a competitor or opponent may discern to be of value establishes a threat to any non-trivial communication. Opponents can decide what information is valuable to them whether or not the owner recognizes the threat. The crowning achievement in the Internet is the complete, wide open interconnection between information resources and end-users. Yet it is this very interconnection which renders the Internet an unsuitable repository for valuable information. To use an analogy from the familiar tale, “The Emperor´s New Clothes”, the Internet/Emperor is well connected, but he apparently does not recognize the need for security/clothes. There is no lack of solutions to this distressing situation: adequate technology exists to clothe the Emperor, but many tailors are idle. One can only hope that customers will demand, and that vendors will produce, an abundant number of secure solutions
Keywords :
Internet; authorisation; cryptography; message authentication; security of data; Internet; business-related information; information resources; modification; open environment; unauthorized disclosure; Application software; Business communication; Computer networks; Computer security; Electronic commerce; Information resources; Information security; Information technology; Intellectual property; Internet;
