E-commerce and security

Abstract

■ Commerce and security are inseparable. The reason for wanting to buy, sell, trade, and rent goods is that they are valuable, and valuable items, tangible or intangible, always need protection. ot only does commerce require security; it usually requires the best security. Until just over a century ago, merchant ships carried cannon to protect their cargos, and medieval towns often had fortified market squares. Today, the shops on Main Street are watched by video cameras; warehouses boast some of the strongest locks available; and the safes in most grocery stores are stronger than those used to store classified documents. Commercial security may be a constant, but the mechanisms of security change over time. The merchantman’s cannon have gone. Today, radios, aircraft, and the fact that oil-burning ships must come into port for fuel have made big-ship piracy a thing of the past. As new commercial environments develop, new security mechanisms appear to protect them, and inappropriate older ones dissappear. Mechanisms are rarely separable from objectives. The relationship between buyer and seller is not an entirely harmonious one; their aims are different, leading them as much to compete as to cooperate. Under the circumstances, providers of security arrangements are rarely neutral. It is therefore essential in considering the security of a novel commercial medium to take into account the interests of the various participants, and to analyze the impact of proposed security measures on all parties. This is all the more true because security is a word that, in the jargon of diplomacy, stands for legitimacy. It is hard to argue that an organization is not entitled to security, and someone who opposes an action taken in the name of security generally starts from the weaker position. What does security provide to the participants in a transaction? It guarantees to the seller that no one will be able to acquire the goods without paying the price the seller demands. The corresponding expectation on the part of the buyer is that the goods paid for will be delivered in a timely manner and will be as represented. Although this is rarely seen as a security issue and usually goes under the name of consumer protection, a broad analysis of security concerns must take into account the needs of the consumer. There may also be tangential concerns of both parties, particularly the privacy of the transaction and the anonymity or lack thereof of the participants.