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Re: security on the web
Sarra Mossoff wrote:
>
> It is my understanding that concerns about security on the web are much
> exaggerated. Think of all the people who feel comfortable giving their
> credit card number over the phone -- even cordless phones. This method
> of transmission can be intercepted by just about anyone willing to
> invest a small amount of money in the necessary technology.
>
> Intercepting a credit card number that has been sent over the phone
> lines via a web connection is, in contrast, nearly impossible. You'd
> need a wealth of computer knowledge and very expensive technology to
> get and read the data packets, and then there's the issue of getting
> just the right data packets -- the ones containing credit card numbers.
> It seems almost silly when you think that all anyone really interested
> in getting a credit card number needs to do is just go through the
> trash behind a restaurant or department store.
While I agree that credit cards in the clear over the Internet are no
less secure than everyday normal credit card use, we have the
opportunity
to make commerce (and communication in general) _really_ secure with
strong encryption technology. With strong encryption, credit cards and
many other things become equally secure from common criminals and
multi-billion dollar organizations (differentiated by size of budget not
because one is any less criminal than the other ;-)
Unfortunately the U.S. Government and many others are staunchly
against security and privacy, so the task of deploying strong encryption
is extremely difficult. This is made worse by the vast majority of
U.S. corporations who are willing to make a deal with the devil to
make more money.
Here is the list of companies currently planning to abandon security
and privacy in favor of FBI/Big Brother software (this comes from
a U.S. Government document, not heresay):
Baltimore Technologies
nCipher Corp.
Boeing
NEC
Cryptomathic
Portland Software
GemPlus
RedCreek Communications
Frontier Technologies Corp.
RPK
Fujitsu Ltd.
Silicon Graphics, Inc.
Hitachi
Spyrus
Open Horizon, Inc.
Intel
Tandem
IRE
Technical Communications Corp.
Mitsubishi Electric America
Toshiba
America Online, Inc.
Mytec Technologies, Inc.
Apple Computer, Inc.
NCR Corp.
Atalla
Network Systems Group of StorageTek
Certicom
Novell, Inc.
Compaq Computer Corp.
PSA
CygnaCom Solutions, Inc.
Price Waterhouse
Cylink Corp.
Racal Data Group
Data Securities International Inc.
Rainbow Technologies
First Data Corp.
RSA
Digital Equipment Corp.
SafeNet Trusted Services Corp.
Digital Signature Trust Company
Secure Computing Corp.
Entrust Technologies
SourceFile
Gradient Technologies, Inc.
Sterling Commerce Groupe
Bull
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Hewlett-Packard
Trusted Information Systems, Inc.
IBM
Unisys
ICL
UPS
McAfee
Utimaco
Mergent
VPNet Technologies
Motorola
>
> Recently, IBM has been running a television ad where a yuppie's friends
> are giving him a really hard time about buying golf clubs off the web
> because of the risk of credit card fraud. IBM of course, then says it
> can make internet commerce safe through encryption.
Marketing organizations always tell the truth, don't they? :-)
-- Mr. E
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