Instead of the familiar FAQ, call this an antidote to FAQs, those Frequently Asserted (but) Questionable Statements.
Isn't concern about Internet security hampering the growth of e-commerce?
Yes and no. Certainly people who haven't used the Internet may be scared
off from buying online or from going online at all.
But for veteran Net users, familiarity with the medium is breeding comfort. Recent surveys of both consumers and business users report two seemingly contradictory findings: Users say they're concerned about security, but they're buying more and more on the Net.
Where's all this scare talk coming from,
anyway?
Journalists and Internet security companies are the chief purveyors. Ever
since New York Times' John Markoff began covering crypto and Internet
security three years ago, the "Internet insecurity" story has been an
often-superficial staple of both consumer and technology journalism.
Internet security vendors are selling protection, so there's an unfortunate tendency to "stimulate the market" by hyping the Net's lack of security.
So if Net-savvy folks aren't scared, who is?
Banks and corporate MIS departments are scared to death, and they should be.
Consumers who make a Net purchase with a credit card risk $50--the
loss they'll suffer if they have to appeal to their card issuer about a fraudulent deal
and get it removed from their bill. Some card issuers and Internet malls
promise to cover all losses.
But bankers know that hackers, like robbers, go where the money is. MIS guys aren't sitting on a pile of cash, but they're responsible for guarding a corporation's innermost secrets and proprietary information. And there's no way to pass the buck--the stakes to these folks isn't $50, it's the job, the mortgage, and the kids' college education.
But isn't this Secure Electronic Transactions protocol supposed to make
it safe to use credit cards on the Net?
Yes, that's SET's goal, but so far it's a long-running soap opera sans
implementation. SET was really designed to make bankers comfortable with
Internet card charges, and Visa and MasterCard have faithfully mirrored
their member banks' apprehensions, reasonable or not. Also, SET is about
card charges, not e-cash, major funds transfers, electronic checks, or
anything else.
Online merchants or buyers today aren't using SET because they can't, except in pilot tests. So far retail Internet sales have proceeded without SET, so when the SET parade begins, it's not clear that anyone except banks will care.
Biography
Senior writer Tim Clark, an avid telecommuter, has worked as a reporter and editor for 22 years, including stints at trade pubs Interactive Week and Advertising Age and editing gigs at San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Business Times, and Palo Alto Weekly. Under his guidance, the business weekly won national awards for its coverage of the 1989 earthquake, while PA Weekly won statewide honors in its early years. NEWS.COM is his fourth start-up publication. He covers electronic commerce, Internet security, intranets, and online advertising and composes a weekly column on Internet commerce. He is married with two teenage children.
