Who''s Using The Technology?
Digital certificates are cropping up wherever companies are pushing their customers to the Internet with the promise of security. Banks across the globe are starting to issue digital certificates to positively identify their online banking customers. ScotiaBank in Toronto signed up 32,000 customers as quickly as they opened their online banking service to the public. Bell South Telecommunications uses digital certificates to enable their employees to file and sign expense management reports via their internal network. Once it''s fully rolled-out, Bell South expects to save over $5 million annually in process costs. United HeathCare Inc. decided to use digital certificates to share private information with their issuers and medical service providers via the Internet. Karl Kendall, Vice-president of computer operations and services at United HealthCare claims "For the first time, digital certificates are going to allow security to be a business enabler rather than a roadblock. Digital certificates are the only viable choice we have to provide safety to these ''new horizon'' access methodologies."
Storing Digital Certificates
Presently, Netscape Communicator 4.0 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 support X.509 certificates through a certificate-store arrangement within the browser software. As Secure Electronic Transactions (SET) rolls-out, consumers will obtain an Electronic Wallet (E-wallet) that operates in conjunction with the browser (helper, plug-in, etc.). These E-wallets will also manage other X.509-based certificates, in addition to SET digital certificates.
Future means for storing digital certificates will include the use of SmartCards -- plastic credit-card sized devices that contain an imbedded programmable chip. Today''s SmartCards can store 8K worth of data and application software, but as they evolve, their capacity for storage and processing will increase by orders of magnitude.
With your SmartCard, you''ll be able to positively identify yourself via the Internet, obtain electronic travel arrangements that are customized to the preferences stored on the chip, check-in to hotels using a kiosk, also based on preferences stored on the chip, and manage an electronic purse (e-purse) that you can replenish via the Internet or telephones equipped for the task.
As MasterCard claims, the Future of Money is in flux. What we think of money today may well be an anachronism tomorrow. Leading-edge technologies, like digital certificates and SmartCards are certain to transform our behavior wherever commerce is concerned. Are you prepared for tomorrow?
IE 7
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