Book details of 'Understanding Digital Signatures: Establishing Trust Over the Internet and Other Networks (CommerceNet)'

Title	Understanding Digital Signatures: Establishing Trust Over the Internet and Other Networks (CommerceNet)
Author(s)	Gail L. Grant, Commercenet PKI Task Force
ISBN	0070125546
Language	English
Published	December 1997
Publisher	McGraw-Hill Professional

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Back to shelf Computer security
Back to shelf Privacy
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The Virtual Bookcase Reviews of 'Understanding Digital Signatures: Establishing Trust Over the Internet and Other Networks (CommerceNet)':

Reviewer amazon.com wrote:
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.
Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
Part one is general background. Chapter one is a brief and rough background of the Internet. Some of the statements are questionable, as are a number of the figures, but it is probably reasonable for the target business audience. The title "Security and the Internet," for chapter two, is only half right. Some general topics that security needs to address are raised, but the Internet isn't mentioned. (The figures convey even less information than in the first chapter, and the situation is not helped by the fact that the figure numbers are not used in the text, so the reader has no idea what passage they are supposed to support.) Again, "Securing the Internet," in chapter three, is a reasonable basic primer on cryptography for the non- technical, but doesn't talk about the Internet yet. The most important point made is the difference between encryption and authentication. Chapter four, on the public key infrastructure, is the weakest, in that it only deals with hierarchical certificate authority systems. It is interesting that the term "network of trust," seemingly used for a group of certificate authorities, is so similar to the term "web of trust" which PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) uses for such a radically different concept. Part two is entitled "Case Studies," and it does have them, but not in the usual style. "Uses of Public Key Systems," in chapter five, still seems to belong to the background section. Chapters six, seven, and eight, on identification and authentication, securing communication, and application integration, say *that* certificates are being used, but give almost no information on how. Chapter nine lists the operational steps in a SET (Secure Electronic Transaction protocol) transaction. Part three looks at technical, legal, and business issues, and at the development of requirements specifications for digital signatures. Chapter ten is only technical by the broadest possible definition of the term, and does not provide enough detail or background for readers to begin to make the decisions that might be necessary. The legal issues chapter eleven raises are at least clear enough to have legal counsel begin to consider, and are not as US-centric as is normally the case. Chapter twelve's review of business issues is a decent discussion starter. The requirements planning tools in chapter thirteen are probably too generic to be of use without further background. Part four is a listing of vendors. Each vendor entry provides contact information, company background, and a description of products or services. Many also list distinctives of the companies, future intentions, and a list of major customers. Chapters cover vendors of certificate authority products and application toolkits. A final chapter looks at the future. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1998
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Book description:

A blueprint for establishing secure Internet transactions. Public Key Cryptography, and its primary application - Public Key Infrastructure, provide for digital certificates and digital signature. These are the means by which: buyers and sellers prove they are who they say they are; information being exchanged cannot be stolen or altered enroute; and sellers are assured that the payment they are being offered is real. This book places the technology in context, discusses related legal issues, provides business examples of where it is being used, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the technology, and provides addresses for relevant organizations and vendors.