[ISN] Cryptography: Its not just about keeping things secret

[R. A. Hettinga]

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Status:  U
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2002 01:43:59 -0600 (CST)
From: InfoSec News <isn at c4i.org>
To: isn at attrition.org
Subject: [ISN] Cryptography: Its not just about keeping things secret
Sender: owner-isn at attrition.org
Reply-To: InfoSec News <isn at c4i.org>

http://bermudasun.bm/cgi-local/edpull.pl?cat=03Business&ord=03&ed=2002-03-13

By Robin Holder
Business from 2002-03-13 Edition

BERMUDA IS actively promoting itself as a jurisdiction for offshore
E-commerce, according to Nicko van Someren, the general chair of the
International Financial Cryptography Conference (FC 02) taking place
at Sonesta Beach Resort this week.

The sixth annual conference, organized by the International Financial
Cryptography Association, is bringing together cryptographers,
technologists, businesses, bankers and lawyers.

It is the only international gathering dedicated to the understanding
of cryptography - the science of encoding messages - and its relevance
to international finance.

"Cryptography is not just about encryption codes and keeping things
secret. It's about authentication, finding out about the person on the
other end of the line, integrity checking and ensuring
confidentiality," van Someren, also chief technology officer of
nCipher Corp., said. For cryptography to be effective, protocols have
to developed in conjunction with functions such as online shopping and
sending confidential E-mail, van Someren added.

"This conference looks at cryptography as applied to all aspects of
finance. That might mean anything as simple as retail E-commerce right
through to more complex issues like the validity of digital contracts
and defining digital currencies which have some of the properties of
physical currencies," van Someren said.

He said people have been examining the technical aspects of anonymous
cash systems for some years but there is a danger since totally
anonymous cash systems could be used as tools for money laundering.
"The conference is a convergence of cryptography as applied to finance
in the broader sense. It might be payment processing on the Internet,
or it might be managing the digital rights of people creating digital
media or protecting people from identity theft," van Someren said.
The conference was first held six years ago in Anguilla but this is
the first time it is being held in Bermuda.

Addressing delegates so far have been Renee Webb, the Minister of
Telecommunications and E-commerce and Nigel Hickson, E-business
consultant to the Ministry.

"There are data protection issues that surround the OECD's
(Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) treaty on tax
law harmonization and the cryptography involved in E-commerce has
significant implications for that," van Someren said.



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-- 
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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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