Developing a Trusted Infrastructure for Electronic Commerce Services

The use of internetworking applications for electronic commerce has been limited by issues of security and trust and by the lack of universality of products and services supporting robust and trustworthy electronic commerce services. Specific service attributes must be addressed to overcome the hesitation of users and business owners to exploit open systems — such as the Internet — for commercial exchanges. These service attributes include: Confirmation of identity (nonrepudiation). This indicates proof that only intended participants (i.e., creators and recipients) are party to communications. Confidentiality and content security. Documents can be neither read nor modified by an uninvited third party. Time certainty. Proof of date and time of communication is provided through time stamps and return receipts. Legal protection. Electronic documents should be legally binding and protected by tort law and fraud statutes.