Security status display and browser interframe communication

ABSTRACT

We argue that current WWW protocols are anticompetitive and favor larger WWW retailers and service providers. Consumer confidence has been recognized as an impediment to the development of smaller WWW based businesses and the growth of online transactions. Consumers are understandably concerned about using their credit card number to make WWW purchases.Our assertion is that the development of standards which would allow payment providers to interface with vendors and consumers to interface with vendors with confidence has been made difficult by current browser standards. We suggest that changes can reasonably be made which would make the task of developing such interface protocols easier while enhancing consumer confidence. Changes in the direction we suggest could assist in enhancing competition, consumer security and privacy, as well as confidence. In addition, it would be easier to develop protocols to allow consumer choice of payment providers, shippers, and other services ancillary to an online transaction.

REFERENCES

• 1: PayPal. http://www.paypal.com
• 2: Payment mechanisms designed for the Internet. http://ganges.cs.tcd.ie/mepeirce/Project/oninternet.html.
• 3: The cyba card. http://www.cybacom.com/.
• 4: Achex, Achex, Inc. South San Francisco, CA 94083. http://www.achex.com/index.jsp.
• 5: Java Cryptography Extension (JCE). http://java.sun.com/products/jce/.
• 6: William Stallings, Network Security Essentials: Applications and Standards, Prentice Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1999
• 7: MSDN online web workshop. http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/Author/xframe_scripting_security.asp.
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• 11: Microsoft .NET Passport One. http://www.passport.com

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.4 COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY
      K.4.4 Electronic Commerce
          Subjects: Security

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.4 COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY
      K.4.4 Electronic Commerce
          Subjects: Payment schemes

General Terms:
Human Factors, Security, Standardization

Keywords:
browser, e-commerce, internet, security, user interface