Keywords

e-business system vulnerabilities, information system errors and fraud risk

Abstract

As firms become progressively more dependent on Internet-based information systems, they are increasingly vulnerable to defects in those systems. These defects can lead to errors, undetected fraud, and malicious intrusion. Information system errors can be catastrophic, whether they occur in market transactions, banking, air traffic control, and so forth. Resulting damages can include lost revenue, lost data, lost trust, and increased costs.

Consequently, effective design of e-business processes is essential to avoid defects that can otherwise lead to errors, fraud, and intrusion. Whereas carefully designed e-business protocols can perform effectively within most expected situations, assuring correct processing under all circumstances is exceptionally complex and difficult. Hidden flaws and errors that occur only under unexpected and hard-to-anticipate circumstances can lead to processing errors and potentially ruinous failures. Continued growth of e-business will, in large part, depend on protocols designed to ensure the information exchanged between trading parties is protected from unauthorized disclosure and modification.

Original Publication Citation

"The Application of Model Checking for Securing e-Commerce Transactions", Communications of the ACM (CACM), Volume 49, Pages 97-101, ACM, 2006