Understanding Digital Signatures: Establishing Trust Over the Internet and Other Networks (CommerceNet) [Paperback]

Gail Gran (Author)

Book Description

Series: CommerceNet Press Series | Publication Date: December 12, 1997

Understanding Digital Signatures: Establishing Trust over the Internet and Other Networks details the business, legal, social, and technological issues surrounding Digital Signatures and public key infrastructure. This book explains this complex technology in terms that a businessperson can understand, covering the unique problems of on-line authentication, how digital signatures help to solve these problems, ways companies are using the technology in real life and issues with its usage. The book includes a list of product and service vendors, future potential and suggestions for companies considering implementation of digital signatures for their customers or employees.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Digital signatures are a means to do online what written signatures do in person. Based on powerful modern cryptography, digital signatures verify that people sending communication are really who they say they are and bind people to their agreements after the fact. Written with the businessperson in mind, Understanding Digital Signatures whittles away the complex mathematics of this online security element and lays out the concepts that make it work. Author Gail Grant's goal is to show how digital signatures can promote online trust in the same manner as a signature on a contract or a photo on a driver's license.

Grant begins with the basics, showing how security problems evolved and what they entail. She explains the five elements of security: authenticating that people are who they say they are, assuring they are authorized to do what they want to do, guaranteeing that private communications remain private, guarding data from being fraudulently changed, and making certain that others cannot deny responsibility for the consequences of their actions by pretending that they were not really the ones acting. Grant then looks at digital signatures from a businessperson's point of view, using case studies to explore how the technology is currently being used in the business world and what uses are planned for the immediate future.

She covers many surrounding issues, such as the legal responsibilities of those who certify digital signatures, the legislation required to truly make digital signatures the working equivalent of an autograph on a contract, and the business policies required to let companies take advantage of the technology while protecting themselves and their customers. Grant wraps up the book with a preview of up-and-coming applications.

From the Back Cover

Discover Digital Signatures, Security For A Commerce-Driven Internet "Gail Grant has captured the essence of on-line authentication and its associated commercial and legal implications-backed with some excellent case studies. This book is a must read for all Internet Entrepreneurs."-I.O.E. Eze, President, Qspace, Inc. "Gail Grant has authored a truly important and useful exploration of the issues that arise when serious business is secured by public key cryptography. In the long run, understanding the concepts so clearly laid out in this book will be fundamental for smart and sound business decisions into the foreseeable future."-Daniel Greenwood, Esq., President, Law and Policy Group, SigNet.Org. Internet security is a hot topic and justifiably so. Customers are already demanding on-line access to their personal records, bank accounts, and other private information; furthermore, researchers estimate sales on the internet could reach $200 billion by the year 2000, as PCs worldwide link to form a global shopping mall. But how can a company be sure of the identity of the party accessing the information? On a global, interconnected network, how can you be certain: Providers and users are who they say they are? Information being exchanged between provider and user cannot be stolen or altered? Order being offered to you is valid? The answers lie in digital signature, which are based on public key cryptography and its infrastructure to bind unique keys to individuals and corporations through identity verification. Written by leading Internet business consultant Gail Grant, Understanding Digital Signatures: Establishing Trust over the Internet and Other Networks. details the business, legal, social, and technological issues surrounding Digital Signatures and key infrastructure. This book explains this complex technology in terms that a businessperson can understand, covering the unique problems of on-line authentication, how digital signatures help to solve these problems, ways companies are using the technology in real life, and issues concerning its usage. The book includes a list of product and service vendors, future potential, and suggestions for companies considering implementation of digital signatures for their customers or employees. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gail L. Grant is the CEO of GLG Consulting, an Internet business consulting firm, and the executive director of the Financial Services Portfolio for CommerceNet, the leading industry consortium dedicated to accelerating the growth of Internet commerce.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1st edition (December 12, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070125546
• ISBN-13: 978-0070125544
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,437,211 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Repetitive., July 14, 1999

By A Customer

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This review is from: Understanding Digital Signatures: Establishing Trust Over the Internet and Other Networks (CommerceNet) (Paperback)

The descriptions of the technology were OK, but the case studies, etc., were repetitive, obscure, and largely useless.

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent overview of the certification process, October 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Understanding Digital Signatures: Establishing Trust Over the Internet and Other Networks (CommerceNet) (Paperback)

This book is perfect for anyone that wants a place to begin when tackling the issue of electronic commerce and internet security. Easy to understand with lots of examples.

4.0 out of 5 stars A good management overview of electronic signatures, May 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Understanding Digital Signatures: Establishing Trust Over the Internet and Other Networks (CommerceNet) (Paperback)

This excellent book gives a clear overview of electronic signatures, with examples of use and mention of the current major players. Any manager considering investing in secure Internet transactions (sales, information distribution, remote login, etc.) will profit from taking a long evening to read through this book.