Trust in the new information age

• Published in: AT&T Technical Journal Vol. 73; no. 5; pp. 9 - 16
• Main Author: Maher, David P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK AT&T 01.09.1994; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; AT & T Bell Laboratories
• Subjects: Security systems; Telecommunications industry
• ISSN: 8756-2324; 2376-676X; 1538-7305
• DOI: 10.1002/j.1538-7305.1994.tb00605.x

In promoting new ways of communicating and doing business, AT&T and other creators of new communications systems need to address some issues of fundamental importance to our customers. People need to have a sense of security about the information that they store, transmit, and receive. They must have confidence in its integrity, source, and destination. Commitments implied by an electronic transaction must be backed by authority that is clearly defined and dependable. People and organizations must also be confident that their correspondence and transactions will not be electronically collected and pieced together to form an image that may someday be used to haunt them. These issues touch the very essence of AT&T's business, and they will affect AT&T's success in carrying out its mission. This paper highlights some ways in which security technology can be used to address fundamental problems that arise with the introduction of new information and communications systems.