Security Issues On E-Government

Passwords
Although passwords are commonly used in relatively low-risk environments, they are inconvenient and inadequate for the high-value transactions and communications that travel across the internet.Nowadays passwords are easy to break and users often write down or share passwords or forget them. In addition, different applications require new ID's and passwords. Moreover, passwords by themselves cannot provide often-required security services: They do not ensure privacy (through encryption); they cannot guarantee the integrity of stored or transmitted data ( through digital signing); and they cannot legally prove that a party participated in a transaction.

Personal Identification Numbers (PIN s)
Since the user must provide an access token and a personal identification number (pin). security is stronger than with a password alone. However, a PIN(on its own) cannot provide important security services such as privacy, data integrity and non-repudiation.

Government
When used with a PKI, smart cards enable governments to safely provide citizens, employees, suppliers and partners quick access to critical programs and information while reducing operating costs and improving customer satisfaction. Citizens can obtain smart cards that allow them to access confidential information, obtain benefits electronically, and pay for government services, An example: Using a single card, a citizen might look up his or her military records, receive a medical insurance benefit, of pay a road toll.
Employees can use cards for procurement, travel expenses, or accessing classified data. To provide better service and reduce costs, several agencies of the United States government-including the General services Administration are beginning to implement ambitious smart cards for multiple purposes including easy portability on military and civilian medical data, military personal records and financial entitlements data including purchasing authority and phone calling cards services.
More recently the government has explored using smart cards to store private keys and digital certificates, often with other data to create multi-purpose cards.

Wireless Applications and Services
Wireless applications/technologies are changing the face of the internet. Users can use digital phones, personal digital assistants, and pagers to transfer money,access medical records and maker travel reservations.
But before engaging in wireless transactions, users must be confident that they can reliably identify and authenticate each other, as well as protect information from interception or tempering. When used with VeriSign digital certificates, the smart card's portability makes it the ideal mechanism for ensuring security in wireless applications.
Although digital certificates-embedded smart cards are rapidly becoming the medium of choice for providing a single point of secure access to broad applications, their adoption is still in its infancy. Like the internet itself, smart card applications and technologies will become more sophisticated as issuers and users begin to understand and expand the ways in which smart card technology can be applied to secure transaction exchange. The key to remaining ahead of the curve in this exciting new world is a PKI infrastructure that provides the scalability, stability and interoperability to grow with an organisation as it adds new applications and services.
As the leader in managed PKI services and as an innovator in smart card solutions, VeriSign provides products with proven scalability, reliability and interoperability for interprises poised to take the next step in the digital revolution.