Protocols for Secure, Atomic Transaction Execution in Electronic Commerce
Abstract:
Computer networks are an efficient, inexpensive, convenient and fast mode of communication and information transfer. There is widespread demand for the ability to buy and sell goods, especially electronic, using this medium. Sales over computer networks is also referred to as electronic commerce. A protocol for electronic commerce transactions is the series of steps that two parties must follow in order to transact business successfully. There are various issues that arise while designing electronic commerce protocols: how can one party be prevented from disappearing with the money/goods in the middle of a transaction? How can a party establish its identity without revealing personal information to unknown and untrusted parties? How can we prevent a third party from "stealing " money from the network? All these and other problems make designing an electronic commerce protocol both challenging and interesting. In this paper, we first present a protocol for electronic commerce transactions between an anonymous customer and a merchant whose identity is public. Tampering with the protocol, either by the involved parties or by an intruder, does not cost the merchant or the customer more than some additional computation. Furthermore, under all circumstances, the transaction is either completed (the right amount of money is exchanged for the right goods) or aborted (there is no transfer of money or goods). In other words, the protocol ensures anonymity, security, and atomicity in business transactions. We also propose a protocol for electronic auctions. The auction protocol has the same properties of anonymity, security, and atomicity as the transaction protocol. We extend these two protocols to apply to real-time transactions where goods (such as stocks, bonds, options, etc.) must be transferred within a stipulated period of time.
