Secure network characteristics
The rapid growth of electronic commerce over the Internet has led to an increasing demand for secure network communications. In addition, intra-company communications over private networks often contain confidential information that needs protection.
A secure network communication has the following characteristics:
Access control.
Only authorized parties protect and access resources. Restricting access on the basis of passwords, IP address, host names, or secure sockets layer (SSL) client authentication ensures access control.
Authenticity.
We know who we are talking to and that we can trust that person. Authentication, using digital signature and digital certificates, ensures authenticity.Information integrity.
Messages do not get altered during transmission. Without information integrity, we have no guarantee that the message you are sent matches the message that we receive. Digital signatures, which are encrypted messages, ensure integrity.Privacy and confidentiality.
Information conveyed from one party to another during a transaction remains private and confidential, even if it gets into the wrong hands. Encryption ensures privacy and confidentiality.