Topics in E-Commerce (Reports)
Issues of Security and Privacy in Electronic Commerce
Part I ---- Introduction & Motivation
Peixian LI
pl9a@cs.virginia.edu
Introduction
Since the invention of the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1989, Internet-based electronic commerce has been transformed from a mere idea into reality. Consumers browse through catalogues, searching for best offers, order goods, and pay them electronically. Information services can be subscribed online, and many newspapers and scientific journals are even readable via the Internet. Most financial institutions have some sort of online presence, allowing their customers to access and manage their accounts, make financial transactions, trade stocks, and so forth. Electronic mails are exchanged within and between enterprises, and often already replace fax copies. Soon there is arguably no enterprise left that has no Internet presence, if only for advertisement reasons. In early 1998 more than 2 million web servers were connected to the Internet, and more than 300 million host computers. And even if actual Internet business is still marginal: the expectations are high. For instance, Anderson consulting predicts Internet business to grow from $10 billion in 1998 to $500 billion in 2002.
Thus, doing some electronic business on the Internet is already an easy task. As is cheating and snooping. Several reasons contribute to this insecurity: The Internet does not offer much security per-se. Eavesdropping and acting under false identity is simple. Stealing data is undetectable in most cases. Popular PC operating systems offer little or no security against virus or other malicious software, which means that users cannot even trust the information displayed on their own screens. At the same time, user awareness for security risks is threateningly low.
A report from Goldman, Sachs & Conotes that while commercial properties such as Yahoo! and eBay receive a lot of attention from investors, business to business ECommerce
Part I ---- Introduction & Motivation
Peixian LI
pl9a@cs.virginia.edu
Introduction
Since the invention of the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1989, Internet-based electronic commerce has been transformed from a mere idea into reality. Consumers browse through catalogues, searching for best offers, order goods, and pay them electronically. Information services can be subscribed online, and many newspapers and scientific journals are even readable via the Internet. Most financial institutions have some sort of online presence, allowing their customers to access and manage their accounts, make financial transactions, trade stocks, and so forth. Electronic mails are exchanged within and between enterprises, and often already replace fax copies. Soon there is arguably no enterprise left that has no Internet presence, if only for advertisement reasons. In early 1998 more than 2 million web servers were connected to the Internet, and more than 300 million host computers. And even if actual Internet business is still marginal: the expectations are high. For instance, Anderson consulting predicts Internet business to grow from $10 billion in 1998 to $500 billion in 2002.
Thus, doing some electronic business on the Internet is already an easy task. As is cheating and snooping. Several reasons contribute to this insecurity: The Internet does not offer much security per-se. Eavesdropping and acting under false identity is simple. Stealing data is undetectable in most cases. Popular PC operating systems offer little or no security against virus or other malicious software, which means that users cannot even trust the information displayed on their own screens. At the same time, user awareness for security risks is threateningly low.
A report from Goldman, Sachs & Conotes that while commercial properties such as Yahoo! and eBay receive a lot of attention from investors, business to business ECommerce