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Dr. Ecommerce,

Moving "Trust" out to the edge of the network and away from the central server seems to be the hot topic these days.

What is your opinion of client-side, hardware-based encryption vs. software-based? I understand there are some interesting things happening in France with Cyber-Comm and Europe FINREAD.

Thanks,

Embassy

Dear Embassy:

My opinion, and it is my opinion rather than the Commission's, is that the future is in hardware. There are two reasons for this.

Firstly, hardware is inherently faster than software. And while software is more than adequate for low memory application such as supplying credit card information to on-line shops, it is simply not fast enough for more demanding applications such as secure video conferencing over a network or the masses of data that banks move around. As bandwidth demands continue to increase, hardware encryption will continue to be more attractive.

Processor manufacturers would seem to feel the same way. The new chips coming out of Intel and elsewhere include built-in encryption accelerators that permit high speed encryption of data. Network cards have, of course, long been available with cryptochips that provide security over closed networks.

Secondly, electronic commerce is moving away from PCs and towards mobile applications such as mobile telephones that can access the Internet, smart cards and more. These devices already have hardware based encryption (sometimes supported by software) built in. And that makes sense. Unlike in a PC, you can't easily install a new software application in a smart card or mobile phone.

Nevertheless, software based encryption has its uses, particularly in business to consumer electronic commerce over the Internet. Internet users log-on via everything from the latest, fastest PCs to slow, comparatively outdated machines. And many users simply haven't the knowhow or interest to install encryption hardware. Hence, server-side software encryption is the best solution here and probably will be for some time.

If you visit the Prosoma database of the outcomes of RTD projects running under ACTS, Esprit and Telematics Applications programmes of the European Commission, you'll find links to a number of Commission projects involving encryption, such as Cascade .

Dr.Ecommerce