30.4 Electronic commerce

The foundation of all economic commerce is the exchange of value. The problem with commerce on the Web is that it uses ``virtual transactions.'' The parties involved cannot exchange conventional cash. They can use credit cards instead, but this is not without risks.

Credit card information is not yet secure in cyberspace. There is a lot of work currently in progress that will change that soon, but for today this still holds. Even if there have not been many reports of credit card misuse originating from the Web, it is still relatively easy to intercept your credit card information and use it repeatedly. Others think this risk is no worse than leaving your credit card information at the gas station, and then they even have a copy of your signature. While this is quite true, one cannot excuse one weakness with the existence of another.

Not only because of this, but also because there is much money potentially involved, there is a wealth of new systems for electronic commerce, from special credit-card-based online-payment systems and electronic checks to electronic cash. This chapter will introduce many of them, and evaluate their relevance for Hyper-G.

30.4.1 First Virtual (FV)

30.4.7 Secure Electronic Payment Protocol specification (SEPP)