Encrypting
Encrypting is transforming information so that even if accessed it is
unintelligible to the reader
uuencode/uudecode
(e-mail, files)
at least information not
casually readable
Public-private key encrypting -- information access requires public
and private keys of creator (or accessor) or BOTH
New York Times journalist Peter H. Lewis says that "sending a
credit card number to an electronic merchant over the Internet is
probably the safest way to make such a transaction. In the last week,
for example, I handed my credit card to a waiter who disappeared with
it for five minutes. I faxed my credit card information to a business
in New Jersey, and the fax probably lay exposed to everyone in that
office for hours and perhaps to the cleaning crew that night. I
called a hotel and gave my card data to a reservation clerk and
continued my recklessness by ordering some merchandise from a clothing
catalogue, again by reading my credit card information to some unseen
operator." He concludes that "compared with the risk of handing my
credit card to a stranger, which I do nearly every day, sending it
over the Internet is pretty secure." (New York Times, Nov 13, 95,
page C3)
