Computer Networks, Security and Software Agents
for electronic commerce

by

Evangelos E. Milios, Ph.D.(MIT), P.Eng., IEEE Senior Member
Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University
eem@cs.dal.ca , http://www.cs.dal.ca/~eem

May 16, 2000

Growth Patterns in Computing

Fast growth in hardware and netware:

• CPU speed (doubles every 18 months)
• Memory capacity (doubles every 18 months)
• Memory speed grows much slower
• Network bandwidth grows
• Network latency is limited by the speed of light
• Network speed is reaching memory speed
• Number of hosts on the Internet (doubles every year)

Slow growth in software productivity:

• 7 +- 1 lines of fully debugged and tested code
• independent of the programming language

Networking (the "plumbing" of e-commerce)

Basic Network concepts

Network protocols

Dealing with packet errors

Local Area Networks

Packet switching

Scaling up to the Internet, TCP/IP

Security & Payments

Computerized Identification techniques

Encryption algorithms

Using encryption

Secure Transactions

Secure Hosts in Networks

Electronic Payments

Java Network Programming

Overview of the Java Programming Language

Networked Java

Servlets

Java Security

Software Agents

Overview

Agent Examples

E-commerce Agents

Mobile Agents

A government case study: fighting financial crime

References:

0. Y. Bakos: "The emerging role of electronic marketplaces on the Internet", Communications of the ACM, Vol. 41, No. 8, August 1998, pp. 35-42.

1. C. Shapiro, H. Varian: "Information Rules: a strategic guide to the network economy", Harvard Business School Press, 1999, ISBN: 0 87584 863 X
(excellent discussion of the economics of information technology).

2. L. Peterson, B. Davie: "Computer Networks: a Systems Approach", Morgan Kaufmann, 2nd edition, 2000, ISBN: 1 55860 514 29
(technical textbook on computer networks. Requires a technical background).

3. A. Ghosh: "E-commerce security: weak links, best defenses", 2nd edition, J. Wiley, 1998, ISBN: 0 471 19223 6
(semi-technical introduction to security. Readable but somewhat disorganized).

4. C. Pfleeger: "Security in computing", Prentice Hall, 1997, ISBN 0 13 337486 6
(technical textbook on security concepts and algorithms. Requires technical background).

5. RSA Laboratories' FAQ Section Index
(excellent online reference resource on security and payments)

6. Netscape's Public Key Cryptography Tutorial

7. Netscape's SSL Tutorial

8. W. Brenner, R. Zarnekow, H. Wittig: Intelligent Software Agents, Foundations and Applications, Springer Verlag, 1998, ISBN 3-540-63411-8

9. N. Jennings, M. Wooldridge: Agent Technology, Foundations, Applications and Markets, Springer Verlag, 1998, ISBN 3-540-63591-2
(overview books, with both technical and non-technical sections)

10. IEEE Spectrum, Special Issue on Electronic Payments, February 1997.

11. W. Stallings: Cryptography and network security, 2nd ed. Prentice Hall, 1999
(technical introduction)

12. D. Denning, P. Denning (eds): Internet besieged:.., Addison Wesley, 1998

13. D. Denning: Information warfare and security, Addison Wesley, 1999
(the Denning books are at a popular science level, and hence highly readable)

14. M. Klusch (ed): Intelligent Information Agents - Agent-Based Information Discovery and Management on the Internet, Springer Verlag, 1999. (several key contributions to agents research, in readable format).

15. Michael Rosing: Implementing Elliptic Curve Cryptography, Manning Publications, 1998,
ISBN: 1884777694 (introduction to ECC using high-school algebra. Accessible introduction to the math, with C implementations).

16. Some e-commerce links

17. Some software agents links

Exercises.

1. Use a typical search engine, like Altavista. Search for the Revenue Canada web site.
Visit the help section of Altavista, learn about the advanced search options.

2. Visit an online bookstore, http://www.amazon.com. Look up the above reference texts. Identify ways in which the online bookstore enhances the customer's experience. List advantages and disadvantages of the online bookstore compared with a physical bookstore.

3. Visit the MIT Media Lab electronic commerce site. Describe the model of "electronic marketplace" advocated there.

4. Visit the IETF web site: http://www.ietf.org
Familiarize yourself with the standards setting process.

5. Find out about the Kerberos authentication scheme. Give examples of real-life scenarios that this scheme would be useful for.

6. Read about Cybercoin (Cybercash's payment system). Is this a stored-value or a store-payment system?

7. Read about Mondex.

8. Locate other electronic commerce sites, operational or resource, and visit them.

9. Read about the seven deadly sins of web-page design. Comment on them.

Projects:

Case studies of various electronic payment schemes.
How secure can mobile agents be.
How secure are virtual private networks and firewalls.