Ray Van Eng (05/19/97)
Digital IDs are issued by "trusted" certificate authorities (CAs) such as Verisign Inc., GTE Corp. etc., although many other commercial establishments such as banks, big corporations and government agencies such as the post offices are also eager to become CAs. Once the digital IDs are being assigned to online merchants and consumers, both parties can finally have the peace of mind that all the important aspects of a financial transaction over the Internet: authenticity, confidentiality, integrity and non-repudiation will be properly addressed. One of the first things that the SET protocol does in a transaction is to authenticate the identity of both the buyer and the seller. The data that travels back and forth during such a session is encrypted so as to maintain confidentiality and the integrity of the communication. When all aspects of the transaction is accomplished, no party can deny or repudiate later that the transaction ever took place. Furthermore, the transaction remains strictly a matter between the financial institution and the consumer. The credit card number and other sensitive personal records would not be revealed to the web server operator who will only receive a yes or no confirmation on the purchase. Thus, merchant fraud is greatly reduced. In short, purchasing over the Internet with SET, e-wallets and digital IDs is actually much much more secure than giving your credit card number and other particulars to a mail order clerk (a total stranger in almost all cases) over the telephone which many consumers now do so without questioning its implicit danger of having your credit card details falling into the wrong hands. So really, how safe is SET? During the recent launch of a SET pilot in Taiwan this month, Thomas Pouliet, MasterCard's vice president for electronic commerce said, "Transaction through SET is almost 100 percent safe...It would take a hacker at least a year to use four super computers to break into SET to get perhaps not even one complete credit card number." And if you are a fan of the X-files, Slider or the NBA playoff TV shows, don't touch that dial during commercials, cause IBM is about to "blitz" you with ads that urge you to "just say YES to 'Net shopping". |
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