ebXML: Global Standard for Electronic Business

Business-to-business integration is transforming the market and has already begun to increase the efficiency of those companies involved. EDI (Electronic Document Interchange) became very popular during 1970’s; Today EDI transactions total about $750 billion year. EDI is being used by 90% of Fortune 1000 companies. It has indeed become a dominant technology for the largest companies, on the other hand it has been adopted by less than 5% of small and medium sized companies in general and, of these, many use EDI only because their larger customers require it. The reason behind is that EDI is a difficult, complex technology to implement usually comes with high transactional cost. Hence it is suitable for large companies with large volume of transactions. EDI uses fixed, rigid and compressed data format that is difficult to decipher and debug. The data exchange in EDI happens in proprietary VAN (value added network) which is an expensive solution. EbXML (Electronic Business XML) envisioned creating a single global electronic marketplace where enterprises of any size and in any geographic location can meet and conduct business with each other through exchange of xml based messages. The XML (the Extensible Markup Language) has rapidly imposed itself as a popular format for exchange of information on the web. The very nature of XML is that it is a structured document format, in that it represents not only the information to be exchanged, but the metadata encapsulating its meaning. XML technology has potential to solve the existing problems in current EDI systems. Using ebXML, companies have a standard method to exchange business messages, conduct trading relationships, communicate data in common terms and define and register business processes. EbXML is designed to provide a simple way for companies to find one another and conduct business over the Web, allowing those with different platforms to speak a common language. EbXML targets to provide low cost solutions for small and medium enterprises as well as complex solution for large enterprises. This project attempts to implement a prototype of ebXML messaging service as per ebXML specification to obtain the insight look of feasibility and suitability of XML solution for EDI

Application of Stochastic Diffusion for Hiding High Fidelity Encrypted Images

Cryptography coupled with information hiding has received increased attention in recent years and has become a major research theme because of the importance of protecting encrypted information in any Electronic Data Interchange system in a way that is both discrete and covert. One of the essential limitations in any cryptography system is that the encrypted data provides an indication on its importance which arouses suspicion and makes it vulnerable to attack. Information hiding of Steganography provides a potential solution to this issue by making the data imperceptible, the security of the hidden information being a threat only if its existence is detected through Steganalysis. This paper focuses on a study methods for hiding encrypted information, specifically, methods that encrypt data before embedding in host data where the ‘data’ is in the form of a full colour digital image. Such methods provide a greater level of data security especially when the information is to be submitted over the Internet, for example, since a potential attacker needs to first detect, then extract and then decrypt the embedded data in order to recover the original information. After providing an extensive survey of the current methods available, we present a new method of encrypting and then hiding full colour images in three full colour host images with out loss of fidelity following data extraction and decryption. The application of this technique, which is based on a technique called ‘Stochastic Diffusion’ are wide ranging and include covert image information interchange, digital image authentication, video authentication, copyright protection and digital rights management of image data in general

Audit implications of EDI; Auditing procedure study;

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_guides/1035/thumbnail.jp

Amphibious operation simulation.

Since the price of personal computers is coming down, it is possible to have computers in a small ship that has a limited budget. The commanding officer of a small ship needs a support system for making decisions in amphibious operations. A personal computer would be helpful in saving time manipulating the information used to make decisions in amphibious operations.http://archive.org/details/amphibiousoperat00hongLieutenant, Royal Thai NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

A Covert Encryption Method for Applications in Electronic Data Interchange

A principal weakness of all encryption systems is that the output data can be ‘seen’ to be encrypted. In other words, encrypted data provides a ‘flag’ on the potential value of the information that has been encrypted. In this paper, we provide a new approach to ‘hiding’ encrypted data in a digital image. In conventional (symmetric) encryption, the plaintext is usually represented as a binary stream and encrypted using an XOR type operation with a binary cipher. The algorithm used is ideally designed to: (i) generate a maximum entropy cipher so that there is no bias with regard to any bit; (ii) maximize diffusion in terms of key dependency so that a change in any bit of the key can effect any, and potentially all, bits of the cipher. In the work reported here, we consider an approach in which a binary or low-bit plaintext image is encrypted with a decimal integer or floating point cipher using a convolution operation and the output quantized into a 1-bit array generating a binary image ciphertext. This output is then ‘embedded’ in a host image to hide the encrypted information. Embedding is undertaken either in the lowest 1-bit layer or multiple 1-bit layers. Decryption is accomplished by: (i) extracting the binary image from the host image; (ii) correlating the result with the original cipher. In principle, any cipher generator can be used for this purpose and the method has been designed to operate with 24-bit colour images. The approach has a variety of applications and, in this paper, we focus on the authentication and self-authentication of e-documents (letters and certificates, for example) that are communicated over the Internet and are thereby vulnerable to attack (e.g. modification, editing, counterfeiting etc.). In addition to document authentication, the approach considered provides a way of propagating disinformation and a solution to scenarios that require ‘plausible deniability’

An analysis of the economic effects of improper electronic data interchange methods at a small company

Master of AgribusinessDepartment of Agricultural EconomicsAleksan ShanoyanThe purpose of this study is to provide insight into the financial implications of inefficient implementation of electronic data interchange (EDI) systems for the use of processing electronic customer orders, as well as discuss why proper EDI adoption is critical. The specific objective of this study is to estimate the annual cost of improper use of EDI based on employee time spent manually entering orders that are received via EDI transmission. The estimated costs are used to calculate net present value (NPV) over the life of the investment in technology for up to a 10-year time frame. The findings provide organizations who currently use EDI systems, or are looking to adopt, with the information necessary for (a) efficient implementation to obtain the largest cost savings and benefits possible and (b) determining the cost-effectiveness of investments in employee trainings on EDI use. Primary data was collected for this study from one specific firm which was determined to be using inefficient EDI practices, lowering their return on investment (ROI) in this technology. The data referenced salaries, time and cost estimates obtained from professionals at the firm. After the primary data was collected and converted to dollars, a financial analysis was projected over a 10-year time frame. The NPV of the cumulative expenses incurred from inefficient EDI implementation was calculated using a five percent discount rate to estimate the benefit the firm could gain by investing in improving the efficiency of EDI use. The results show that inefficient EDI implementation decreases the expected ROI from the initial investment. If the firm continues their inefficient methods, they can stand to lose at least $143,710 over five years and$206,434 over ten years. It is in the firm’s best interest to change their methods, invest in training, and adopt better practices. For further research, it would be beneficial to conduct an in-depth analysis on all inefficient EDI practices, instead of only order entry processes. Data should also be collected to analyze the emotional cost endured by employees that experience burnout and job dissatisfaction as a direct result from inefficient implementation. The findings in this study, and future research, will guide organizations to use proper techniques from the point of implementation so that they can maximize the benefits of EDI in improving operational efficiency

InfoTech Update, Volume 5, Number 3, May/June 1996

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_news/4956/thumbnail.jp