Security Vie ws/DI: Bill Hancock
The
fees to apply for the seal will start at $150,
said
BBBO’s chief operating officer and senior vice president, Russell Bodoff. “It’s driven by what’s happening in the European Union, and it’s driven by the threat of extensive Bodoff junction
and restrictive said. BBBO, with the
legislation
Arlington, Department
Federal Trade Commission to refine the programme’s The
move follows
the EU
here in the U.S.“,
Va., worked in conof Commerce, the
and the European Union components, he said. Data Protection
Directive,
which states that European companies must alert consumers when data is being collected about them and their online buying habits. At that time, industry observers said the directive would pressure the United States to create its own privacy measures. BBBO’s privacy programme includes compliance assessment, evaluation and dispute resolution to give consumers some form
of redress if they believe
that their person-
might
Prime France
nology, in a move to encourage and the growth of E-commerce. will dramatically increase consumer in the security The decision to liberalize France’s traditional policy
The
seal.
VAR Bill Simser, manager of Hewlett-Packard Co. solutions at Exagis, Minneapolis, said his customers are always worried
about
privacy
issues surrounding
E-
president
at
that tech-
the use of the Internet It is believed that this
the confidence of the French of online transactions. marks a decisive break with on the use of encryption. At
present, 40-bit technology is the strongest allowed. In addition, the government requires that in all cases that any use of encryption is authorized and that the State
party enjoy BBB
vice
Minister Lionel Jospin has announced is to allow the use of 12%bit encryption
be provided
who in turn might sales because of the
VanStory,
San Francisco.
France Lightens Up Cryptographic Use
al data is misused, Bodoff said. Resellers said they were pleased with the prospect of being able to offer thirdvalidation to their clients, more traffic and increased
said Beth
make”,
OfficeDepot.com,
French
Its position
with a key. army is against relaxing is similar
the current
to that of the CIA
law.
in the US,
which argues that it makes the country vulnerable to attack. French ISPs have welcomed the move but say that until the French telecommunications industry is fully deregulated neither the Internet merce can take off in France. However,
nor E-comas a member
commerce, and he would be keen to provide any stamp of approval to reassure consumers that data is
of the EU, decisions taken at national level will be subject to any EU directives on encryption. France is also
safe with the merchant. The BBBOS programme “is the type of value-add we’re looking to provide-being
a member
able to provide clients”,
Simser
SomeVARs in consumer
answers
and ensure
security
to our
said.
said their customers are always interested information and may or may not pass on
country
of the Wassenaar
Arrangement.
Teen Crackers Being Used by Professional Thieves
“If we thought someone like Microsoft [Corp.] knew everything about us, customer confidence [would be lost]“, said Black. “The risk of what you could lose by
Corporate networks are coming under attack from an army of amateur crackers working unwittingly for experts have warned. professional thieves, security They have identified signs that organized criminals and ‘professional’ crackers are using trick software that lets teenage enthusiasts - known as ‘script kiddies’ attack networks for amusement. The software then secretly sends the findings of these surveys to experienced crackers. Professional gangs could use this trick to build massive databases of network insecurities for
selling
thieves to exploit.
their data for a profit. However, Roger Black, chairman of Interactive Bureau LLC, a New York reseller, said the real danger in privacy issues comes via program or hardware ‘cookies’ that alert other Web sites of users’ interests and habits.
100
[consumer
data] far outweighs
any profit
you