User:Medinafly/Digital Security

Digital Security

We live in an increasingly digitally focused world. In order to embrace this digital lifestyle with a sense of freedom, enhanced digital security measures are continuously needed.

Digital Security gives individuals the freedom to embrace the digital lifestyle – to confidently engage in everyday interactions across all digital devices – in an increasingly mobile and global world.

According to Gemalto CEO Olivier Piou, one of the leading digital security companies in the world, “digital security has a key role to play in the digital revolution. Yet fear of fraud, identity theft, and other concerns are holding people back from making the most of (what the digital revolution has to offer). They need to feel that the wealth of devices and services available are both convenient to use and trustworthy."

But what are some of the devices and services that make up digital security? Digital security affects all aspects of the digital lifestyle, which, among others, comprises computers and the internet, telecommunications, financial transactions, transportation, healthcare, and secure access.

Computers and the Internet
Internet security involves the protection of a computer's internet account and files from intrusion by an outside user. Internet users today are very familiar with companies like Symantec (Norton Anti-Virus) and McAfee that provide them with internet security products to guard against computer viruses, as well as to provide secure firewalls and protection against spyware.

Organizations like the Center for Internet Security (CIS) is a not-for-profit organization that helps enterprises reduce the risk of business and e-commerce disruptions resulting from inadequate technical security controls, and provides enterprises with resources for measuring information security status and making rational security investment decisions. The fact that an organization like CIS exists today is proof of the importance of maintaining adequate internet security.

Another example of secure smart card technology usage is the Microsoft .NET card framework. This is a software framework that is available with several Microsoft Windows operating systems. It includes a large library of coded solutions to prevent common programming problems and a virtual machine that manages the execution of programs written specifically for the framework. At Microsoft’s Heroes Happen Here event in February 2008 the inbuilt .NET smart card technology that operates the current Microsoft Windows server was showcased.

Telecommunications
Perhaps the most widely known digitally secure telecommunication device is the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card, a device that is embedded in most of the world’s cellular devices before any service can be obtained. The SIM card is just the beginning of this digitally secure environment.

Recent developments in SCWS (Smart Card Web Servers) are pushing the boundaries of mobile technology. Tests are being conducted in secure OTA (over-the-air) payment and credit card information from and to a mobile phone. The link between the bank doing the paying and the person’s mobile device needs to be secure.

Combination SIM/DVD devices are being developed through Smart Video Card technology which embeds a DVD-compliant optical disc into the card body of a regular SIM card.

Other telecommunication developments involving digital security include mobile signatures, which use the embedded SIM card to generate a legally binding electronic signature.

Financial Transactions & Retail
The UCLA Internet Report: Surveying the Digital Future (2000) found that the privacy of personal data (created) barriers to online sales and that more than nine out of 10 internet users (were) somewhat or very concerned about credit card security. Due to rapid advancements in online digital security, those concerns have been alleviated to a large extent.

VeriSign, Inc. has emerged as the world’s trusted guarantor of ensuring that the entire infrastructure services of the internet are secure. Billions of times each day, its SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) as well as its successor TLS (Transport Layer Security), identity and authentication services, and domain name services allow companies and consumers all over the world to engage in trusted communications and commerce. Several versions of SSL and TLS are commonly used today in applications such as web browsing, e-mail, internet faxing, instant messaging, and VoIP (voice-over-IP).

The credit card companies Visa and MasterCard cooperated to develop the secure EMV chip which is embedded in credit cards. Further developments include the Chip Authentication Program where banks give customers hand-held card readers to perform online secure transactions. The combination of improved internet security and improved credit card security has led to an explosion in online shopping.

Other developments in this arena include the development of technology such as Instant Issuance which has enabled shopping mall kiosks acting on behalf of banks to issue on-the-spot credit cards to interested customers.

Banks continue to make improvements to their digital security software in order to facilitate online banking. Susan Orr, in a recent interview in ABA Banking Journal, explains: “Because regulators have been insisting on better perimeter controls as well as controls on key infrastructure and application areas, like internet banking …, most banks have those systems protected fairly well. Most are also ‘virus savvy,’ and are trying to catch up on other malware trends, such as blended threats (e.g. virus worms or Trojans with embedded html files).

Travel and Transportation
The post 9/11 world has necessitated the rapid development of enhanced digital security for the traveling public in order to satisfy the enhanced entry requirements for more and more international border control agencies.

Most modern passports are now ePassports, containing an embedded microchip that stores a digitized photograph and personal information such as name, gender, and date of birth. In addition, more and more countries are introducing facial recognition technology to reduce identity-related fraud. The introduction of the ePassport has assisted border officials in verifying the identity of the passport holder, thus allowing for quicker passenger processing. Plans are under way in several countries, including the US, the UK, and Australia to introduce SmartGate kiosks with both retina and fingerprint recognition technology.

Additionally, e-Drivers’ licenses are being developed using the same technology. For example, Mexico’s licensing authority (ICV) has used a smart card platform to issue the first e-Drivers’ licenses to the city of Monterrey, in the state of Nuevo León.

The airline industry has witnessed the virtual demise of traditional paper tickets and the advent of more user-friendly electronic tickets (e-tickets). Their popularity has been made possible due to advances in online credit card transactions in partnership with the airlines. Long-distance bus companies are also switching over to e-ticketing transactions today. It will not be long before all tickets for any purpose will be in an electronic format.

Shipping companies have adopted RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology as an efficient, digitally secure, tracking device. Unlike a barcode, RFID can be read up to 20 feet away, which makes this tracking method much more efficient and user-friendly. RFID has revolutionized well-known shipping companies like FedEx and UPS.

Health Care
Today, all health-care providers and health insurance companies use the internet to provide enhanced products and services. More and more of these organizations are using the web to increase customer satisfaction, improve patient care, boost service revenues, and lower costs.

Health care companies like Humana are leaders today in eHealth; Humana partners with WebMD, Oracle, EDS, Microsoft, and TriZetto to enable its members to take a stakeholder approach to their health care, as well as to provide an overview of a wider and wider range of health care plans. Patient records are increasingly being placed on secure in-house networks, alleviating the need for extra storage space. Health care patients are more at ease with this electronic system precisely because their trust in digitally secure networks has increased.

Secure Access
The FBI, CIA, and Pentagon, are all leaders in utilizing secure controlled access technology for any of their buildings. However, the use of this form of technology is spreading into the entrepreneurial world. More and more companies are taking advantage of the development of digitally secure controlled access technology. GE's ACUVision, for example, offers a single panel platform for access control, alarm monitoring and digital recording.

New approaches offer the best of both worlds by combining network DVR capabilities with intelligent access control and alarm monitoring panel functionality into a single IP solution. Systems now combine digital video monitoring/recording/playback, access control and intrusion detection functionality in a single panel solution. With these integrated digital video recording and access control platforms, security officers can display live and stored video associated with alarm conditions and cardholder activity.

It is clear that the digital age is here to stay. There is no escaping it. We are all leading a digital lifestyle whether we really want to or not. The only way to embrace this lifestyle with confidence and not to fear it is to be secure in the knowledge that digital security measures, such as the ones outlined above, are being enhanced all the time in order to protect our digital way of life.

External Links

http://www.bbbonline.org/OnLineShopTips/ - Online shopping tips from the Better Business Bureau

http://www.onguardonline.gov/ - OnGuardOnline.gov - practical tips from the U.S. government and the technology industry to help online users secure their computers, be on guard against online fraud, and protect personal information

http://www.safeshopping.org/security.shtml - Tips on securing your online transactions

http://www.justaskgemalto.com/ - Consumer resource for information on wide-ranging digital security questions

http://www.cisecurity.org/ - Center for Internet Security

http://www.gemalto.com/ - Gemalto, digital security company

http://www.microsoft.com/security/ - Microsoft Security

http://www.wiredsafety.org/ - Wired Safety - internet safety and education resource

http://www.smartcardalliance.org/ - Smart Card Alliance - industry association