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Information society in the EU: Digital signatures
Security Views/Dr. Bill Hancock
shootings School.
that
left
15
dead
at
Columbine
High
“Across the country, parents are stunned, worried and unsure in many cases where to turn”, said Laurie Lipper, director of The Children’s Partnership, a Washington, D.C.-based children’s advocacy group that has published a booklet entitled The Children’s Guide to the Internet. Lipper said the group urges people to learn about the tools Internet service providers offer, such as America Online’s parental controls that let subscribers limit children’s Internet time, use of Email and chat rooms and creation ofWeb pages. Some parents prefer to install filtering software on their home computers that can be exactly tailored to their concerns, while others consider monitoring devices a violation of trust, Lipper said. Enough parents did opt for monitoring to make Net Nanny the No. 2 seller recently on Netscape’s Software Store sales portal, up from No. 5 in the prior period.The number of Net Nanny copies downloaded for evaluation increased 10% recently after a review period, said Gordon Ross, president of Net Nanny Software Inc. in Bellevue, Wash. Ross said Net Nanny, used by more than 1 million people, can be set for any level of security from disconnecting the machine if the wrong words or phrases are used to just tracking and recording Internet contacts. That way, if a parent doesn’t want to interfere with a child’s online activities, he said, “You can at least know that the word ‘bomb’ has been mentioned and you can investigate that later.” Potential buyers downloaded 10-150/o more evaluaLittleton incident) of tion copies (a ft er the CYBERsitter, which is used by nearly 2 million people, said Marc Kanter, vice president of Solid Oak Software in Santa Barbara, Calif. Kanter said the Colorado slayings had parents worried about what children can learn if unsupervised online. “If a child wants to find material like how to make a bomb, it is as simple as typing a couple of words and it is endless what you can find”, he said. DiCamillo
292
said his service frees parents
from the need
to frequently update lists of blocked sites on their home computer by doing daily updates at Voicenet. He said the service is also popular with schools. “They want to expose their students to the wonderful educational benefits of the Internet but at the same time they would like to isolate them from the seedier, undesirable side”. DiCamillo said. Mark Basnage, instructional technology coordinator at the Mosaica Academy Charter School in Bensalem, said the school uses Web Control as “a good first level of precaution” for the nearly 200 computers used by teachers and 450 kindergarten through sixth-grade pupils. Unlike some software, Basnage said, “There is no underground knowledge about how to disable it. Kids have filtering software at home, and in discussions what you hear is, ‘We have a filter at home but I know the password.“’ Some critics cautioned that Internet filters may weed out good sites along with the bad. In addition, said David Sobel, general counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C.,“We fear that it can really be a quick fix to a very compliis poscated problem.” . . . “A school or a community sibly giving itself a false sense of security if it tells itself that the problem is information on the Internet and the answer is to place some software on computers,” Sobel said. Lipper urged parents not to let fears about bombs and pornography overshadow the good things children can find on the Internet. She cited the American Library Association Web page, which lists more than 700 kid-friendly sites. “Our bottom line is that there is no substitute at any age for just being in touch with your kid and having some sense of what they are up to”, Lipper said. “And never assume you can disengage from what your child does online, no matter what kind of devices you use, or how old they are.”
Information Society in the EU: Digital Signatures EU the
telecoms directive
ministers have reached agreement establishing a legal framework
on for
Computers & Security, Vol. 18, No. 4
electronic signatures (by May 20th), which is designed to remove one of the main obstacles to the development of electronic commerce in Europe.The directive will require all member states to introduce legislation which recognizes digital signatures as the legal equivalent to hand signatures, provided they have been certified by a third party and the technology used to make them respects a series of conditions outlined in annexes to the directive. It is designed to promote confidence in electronic transactions by providing guarantees regarding the authenticity of the data and identity of the parties. German and UK officials described the agreement as a compromise between the Commission’s original proposal, based solely on liability for abuse of electronic signatures, and France-German insistence on the need for prior approval of bodies issuing E-signatures. “The original proposal did not go far enough in terms of laying down minimum requirements concerning access and security, so the proposal now subjects companies issuing digital signatures to a voluntary accreditation process”, an official explained. The technical requirements imposed are limited. The directive requires that a digital signature be uniquely linked to the signatory, be capable of identifying the signatory, and be linked to the data in such a way as to ensure that any subsequent change in the data would be detectable. Although digital signatures based on public-key cryptography are currently the most recognized form of E-signature, the directive remains technologyneutral in view of the rapid pace of development and the global character of the Internet. The proposal now goes to the European Parliament for a second reading before returning to the Council of Ministers for adoption later this year.
Clinton Proposes Privacy Controls President Clinton recently proposed legislation to consumers protect against information-sharing among banks, insurance companies and security firms. The president also reasserted his support for a law that steers investment to underprivileged areas. Offering greater protections for consumer privacy, Clinton noted that consumers receive 4 billion unsolicited
credit card offers every year and that some people are duped by the small print. “We all know that technology and competition have revolutionized the financial services industry”, the president said at a White House ceremony.“But many people . don’t have the knowledge to properly evaluate what is truly a dizzying array of options.” The president also took a moment to defend the Community Reinvestment Act against Republican efforts to weaken it. The act, which spurs banks to lend in underdeveloped communities, has been in effect for 20 years. But more than OO’l/hof the funds provided under the act have come in the last six years “on Clinton’s watch” the president said. “It has not done anything to hurt bank profits, and we ought to stay with it”, he said. The privacy proposals, according to a memo distributed at the White House, are meant to address consumer privacy issues at a time when cross-industry mergers and consolidation have given banks unprecedented access to their customers’ financial and medical records. Clinton said too many consumers “have fallen victim to abusive practices” and said that the rule changes would give them “the tools and the confidence they need to fully participate in a thriving but highly complex 21 st century economy.” Among the proposals Clinton offered, Inany of which were introduced in January by Sen. Paul Sarbanes. I?Md.. were: l
l
.
Requiring financial institutions to inform consumers of plans to share or sell their personal financial information, and giving consumers the power to stop such a transfer. Restricting any sharing of medical information within a financial conglomerate. “A5 banks and insurance firms merge, for example, consumers should not fear that the results of a physical exam could be used to make a credit decision”, the White House memo said. Requiring credit-card offers of low “teaser rates” to prominently disclose when those rate\ expire
293
shootings School.
that
left
15
dead
at
Columbine
High
“Across the country, parents are stunned, worried and unsure in many cases where to turn”, said Laurie Lipper, director of The Children’s Partnership, a Washington, D.C.-based children’s advocacy group that has published a booklet entitled The Children’s Guide to the Internet. Lipper said the group urges people to learn about the tools Internet service providers offer, such as America Online’s parental controls that let subscribers limit children’s Internet time, use of Email and chat rooms and creation ofWeb pages. Some parents prefer to install filtering software on their home computers that can be exactly tailored to their concerns, while others consider monitoring devices a violation of trust, Lipper said. Enough parents did opt for monitoring to make Net Nanny the No. 2 seller recently on Netscape’s Software Store sales portal, up from No. 5 in the prior period.The number of Net Nanny copies downloaded for evaluation increased 10% recently after a review period, said Gordon Ross, president of Net Nanny Software Inc. in Bellevue, Wash. Ross said Net Nanny, used by more than 1 million people, can be set for any level of security from disconnecting the machine if the wrong words or phrases are used to just tracking and recording Internet contacts. That way, if a parent doesn’t want to interfere with a child’s online activities, he said, “You can at least know that the word ‘bomb’ has been mentioned and you can investigate that later.” Potential buyers downloaded 10-150/o more evaluaLittleton incident) of tion copies (a ft er the CYBERsitter, which is used by nearly 2 million people, said Marc Kanter, vice president of Solid Oak Software in Santa Barbara, Calif. Kanter said the Colorado slayings had parents worried about what children can learn if unsupervised online. “If a child wants to find material like how to make a bomb, it is as simple as typing a couple of words and it is endless what you can find”, he said. DiCamillo
292
said his service frees parents
from the need
to frequently update lists of blocked sites on their home computer by doing daily updates at Voicenet. He said the service is also popular with schools. “They want to expose their students to the wonderful educational benefits of the Internet but at the same time they would like to isolate them from the seedier, undesirable side”. DiCamillo said. Mark Basnage, instructional technology coordinator at the Mosaica Academy Charter School in Bensalem, said the school uses Web Control as “a good first level of precaution” for the nearly 200 computers used by teachers and 450 kindergarten through sixth-grade pupils. Unlike some software, Basnage said, “There is no underground knowledge about how to disable it. Kids have filtering software at home, and in discussions what you hear is, ‘We have a filter at home but I know the password.“’ Some critics cautioned that Internet filters may weed out good sites along with the bad. In addition, said David Sobel, general counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C.,“We fear that it can really be a quick fix to a very compliis poscated problem.” . . . “A school or a community sibly giving itself a false sense of security if it tells itself that the problem is information on the Internet and the answer is to place some software on computers,” Sobel said. Lipper urged parents not to let fears about bombs and pornography overshadow the good things children can find on the Internet. She cited the American Library Association Web page, which lists more than 700 kid-friendly sites. “Our bottom line is that there is no substitute at any age for just being in touch with your kid and having some sense of what they are up to”, Lipper said. “And never assume you can disengage from what your child does online, no matter what kind of devices you use, or how old they are.”
Information Society in the EU: Digital Signatures EU the
telecoms directive
ministers have reached agreement establishing a legal framework
on for
Computers & Security, Vol. 18, No. 4
electronic signatures (by May 20th), which is designed to remove one of the main obstacles to the development of electronic commerce in Europe.The directive will require all member states to introduce legislation which recognizes digital signatures as the legal equivalent to hand signatures, provided they have been certified by a third party and the technology used to make them respects a series of conditions outlined in annexes to the directive. It is designed to promote confidence in electronic transactions by providing guarantees regarding the authenticity of the data and identity of the parties. German and UK officials described the agreement as a compromise between the Commission’s original proposal, based solely on liability for abuse of electronic signatures, and France-German insistence on the need for prior approval of bodies issuing E-signatures. “The original proposal did not go far enough in terms of laying down minimum requirements concerning access and security, so the proposal now subjects companies issuing digital signatures to a voluntary accreditation process”, an official explained. The technical requirements imposed are limited. The directive requires that a digital signature be uniquely linked to the signatory, be capable of identifying the signatory, and be linked to the data in such a way as to ensure that any subsequent change in the data would be detectable. Although digital signatures based on public-key cryptography are currently the most recognized form of E-signature, the directive remains technologyneutral in view of the rapid pace of development and the global character of the Internet. The proposal now goes to the European Parliament for a second reading before returning to the Council of Ministers for adoption later this year.
Clinton Proposes Privacy Controls President Clinton recently proposed legislation to consumers protect against information-sharing among banks, insurance companies and security firms. The president also reasserted his support for a law that steers investment to underprivileged areas. Offering greater protections for consumer privacy, Clinton noted that consumers receive 4 billion unsolicited
credit card offers every year and that some people are duped by the small print. “We all know that technology and competition have revolutionized the financial services industry”, the president said at a White House ceremony.“But many people . don’t have the knowledge to properly evaluate what is truly a dizzying array of options.” The president also took a moment to defend the Community Reinvestment Act against Republican efforts to weaken it. The act, which spurs banks to lend in underdeveloped communities, has been in effect for 20 years. But more than OO’l/hof the funds provided under the act have come in the last six years “on Clinton’s watch” the president said. “It has not done anything to hurt bank profits, and we ought to stay with it”, he said. The privacy proposals, according to a memo distributed at the White House, are meant to address consumer privacy issues at a time when cross-industry mergers and consolidation have given banks unprecedented access to their customers’ financial and medical records. Clinton said too many consumers “have fallen victim to abusive practices” and said that the rule changes would give them “the tools and the confidence they need to fully participate in a thriving but highly complex 21 st century economy.” Among the proposals Clinton offered, Inany of which were introduced in January by Sen. Paul Sarbanes. I?Md.. were: l
l
.
Requiring financial institutions to inform consumers of plans to share or sell their personal financial information, and giving consumers the power to stop such a transfer. Restricting any sharing of medical information within a financial conglomerate. “A5 banks and insurance firms merge, for example, consumers should not fear that the results of a physical exam could be used to make a credit decision”, the White House memo said. Requiring credit-card offers of low “teaser rates” to prominently disclose when those rate\ expire
293