Exercise 13

Exercise: 13
1. List and describe your experiences with a secure Web site. Some examples may be:
• University enrolment;
• online banking, auctions, real estate;
• booking a cheap air ticket or concert ticket;
• Shopping online for a book, software or a CD.

When using secure sites one common thing which i noticed was that the sites where very logically designed and easy to use. Most of the sites are very easy to navigate to find what you want. Shopping sites generally contain a shopping cart and a checkout. Some of the sites which i have used are , Amazon, Ebay, Jetstar etc. The information about the reliability of the site can be checked from the SSL certificate and the information available on the sites about its security.

2. What is SET and how does it compare to SSL as a platform for secure electronic transactions? Is SET in common use?
A protocol designed to en sure the security and integrity of online communications and purchases, Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) uses digital certificates, issued to merchants and other businesses and customers, to perform a series of security checks verifying that the identity of a customer or sender of information is valid.

The Secure Sockets Layer protects data transferred over http using encryption enabled by a server's SSL Certificate. An SSL Certificate contains a public key and a private key. A public key is used to encrypt information and a private key is used to decipher it. When a browser points to a secured domain, an SSL handshake authenticates the server and the client and establishes an encryption method and a unique session key. They can begin a secure session that protects message privacy and message integrity. (SSL).SSL is a standard for encrypted client/server communication between network devices. A network protocol, SSL runs on top of TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol: facilitates connectivity at diverse environments

Comparing SSL and SET we can see that, SSL is relatively easy to use and is widely acceptable. On the other side the major reasons for the marketplace's eventual decision to go with SET will be the faster settlement times, stronger assurances regarding order integrity. SET will become the industry standard because of SET's back and forth, double check security measures and the fact that SET transfers money early in the transaction process. (Clough, 2008)