Certification Authority to be Established for Secure E-Commerce

Abstract

[evdate 1998-11-19] For release 19 November 1998

CERTIFICATION AUTHORITY TO BE ESTABLISHED FOR SECURE E-COMMERCE

About 30% of local companies plan to adopt some form of e-commerce within a year, according to a survey conducted in September 1998 by the Cyberspace Center at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The same survey showed that the Hongkong Post is generally accepted as an organization that can be trusted to provide digital authentication services. The Hongkong Post is now planning to offer these services in the second half of 1999.

Digital authentication by a Certification Authority (CA) helps network users authenticate the identity of a remote party by using sophisticated encryption technology. A digital certificate issued by CA is attached to the information delivered and used to authenticate the identity of the sender. There are two types of digital certificates: a Server Certificate is used to authenticate the identity of the server from which the electronic message or transaction information is delivered, and a Client/Individual Certificate is used to authenticate the identity of a company or an individual.

"The Hong Kong SAR government is actively promoting the development of e-commerce in local business and industrial sectors," says Prof Samuel Chanson, director of the Cyberspace Center. "CA, which addresses the security needs of business transactions over the Internet, is an important component in building an e-commerce environment. It is important to educate the public that conducting business and sending personal information over the Internet can be made acceptably safe when CA and other security measures are adopted."

The Cyberspace Center survey was commissioned by the Hongkong Post and aimed at identifying the current status of e-commerce and demand for CA. The survey reached 3,000 local companies in 18 industrial sectors, and 1,354 companies responded.

The survey found that fewer than 10% of the respondents are using some form of e-commerce. Most maintain a web site for advertising purposes. Moreover, only 0.08% of the respondents currently offer the convenience of payment over the network to their clients. Security is still the major concern that keeps local companies from adopting e-commerce utilizing payment through the Internet.

Note to Editors: For further information, please contact Mr Bosco Wong of the Public Affairs Office at 2358-6307 or email pamedia@ust.hk.