The Value of User-Visible Internet Cryptography

Cryptographic mechanisms are used in a wide range of applications, including email clients, web browsers, document and asset management systems, where typical users are not cryptography experts. A number of empirical studies have demonstrated that explicit, user-visible cryptographic mechanisms are not widely used by non-expert users, and as a result arguments have been made that cryptographic mechanisms need to be better hidden or embedded in end-user processes and tools. Other mechanisms, such as HTTPS, have cryptography built-in and only become visible to the user when a dialogue appears due to a (potential) problem. This paper surveys deployed and potential technologies in use, examines the social and legal context of broad classes of users, and from there, assesses the value and issues for those users

PKI Interoperability: Still an Issue? A Solution in the X. 509 Realm

There exist many obstacles that slow the global adoption of public key infrastructure (PKI) technology. The PKI interoperability problem, being poorly understood, is one of the most confusing. In this paper, we clarify the PKI interoperability issue by exploring both the juridical and technical domains. We demonstrate the origin of the PKI interoperability problem by determining its root causes, the latter being legal, organizational and technical differences between countries, which mean that relying parties have no one to rely on. We explain how difficult it is to harmonize them. Finally, we propose to handle the interoperability problem from the trust management point of view, by introducing the role of a trust broker which is in charge of helping relying parties make informed decisions about X.509 certificates

Electronic government procurement adoption behavior amongst Malaysian SMEs

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between a model of electronic procurement (e-procurement) adoption behavior and the level of Government e-procurement adoption amongst Small Medium Enterprise (SME) in Malaysia. Data was collected through questionnaires that were distributed to SME selected randomly in all SME in Malaysia.The data were analyzed using factor analysis, reliability analysis, independent-sample t-test, descriptive statistics, Pearson Correlation and multiple regressions. Regression results reveals that ‘power’, ‘trust’ and ‘value’ have a positive relationship with the level of e-procurement adoption amongst SME in Malaysia.All dimensions, namely; the power of supplier, power of procurement, trust on supplier, trust on information technology, value of implementation system efficiency and value of cost efficiency were also correlated with the level of e-procurement adoption amongst SME. Past studies on e-procurement are beset by problems of buyer-seller relationship perspective.In addition, these studies are skewed towards Government-SME relationship perspective which the Government possesses more power than SME and provide a better incentive to educate and influence SME to adopt e-procurement.In investigation the relationship between a model of e-procurement adoption behavior and the level of Government e-procurement adoption amongst SME in Malaysia, this study also tries to provides recommendation to Malaysian government for improving the level of e-procurement adoption amongst SME

Towards an integrated model for citizen adoption of E-government services in developing countries: A Saudi Arabia case study

This paper considers the challenges that face the widespread adoption of E-government in developing countries, using Saudi Arabian our case study. E-government can be defined based on an existing set of requirements. In this paper we define E-government as a matrix of stakeholders; governments to governments, governments to business and governments to citizens using information and communications technology to deliver and consume services. E-government has been implemented for a considerable time in developed countries. However E-government services still faces many challenges their implemented and general adoption in developing countries. Therefore, this paper presents an integrated model for ascertaining the intention to adopt E-government services and thereby aid governments in accessing what is required to increase adoption

Increasing online shop revenues with web scraping: a case study for the wine sector

Purpose – Wine has been produced for thousands of years and nowadays we have seen a spread in the wine culture. E-commerce sales of wine have increased considerably and online customer’s satisfaction is influenced by quality and price. This paper presents a case study of the company “QuieroVinos, S.L.”, an online wine shop founded in 2015 that sells Spanish wines in two main marketplaces. Design/methodology/approach – With the final target of increasing the company profits it has been designed and developed an application to track the prices of competitors for a set of products. This information will be used to set the product prices in order to offer the products both competitively and profitably in each Marketplace. This application must check, by tacking into account information such as the product cost or the minimum product margin, if it is possible to decrease the price in order to reach the top cheapest position and as a consequence, increase the sales. Findings – The application improved in a notorious way the company’s results in terms of sales and shipping costs. It must be said that without the use of the presented application, performing the price comparison process within each one of the marketplaces would have taken a long time. Moreover, as prices change very frequently, the obtained information has a very limited time value, and the competitors prices should be analyzed daily in order to take accurate decisions regarding the company’s price policy. Originality/value – Although the application has been designed for the wine sector and the two named marketplace, it could be exported to other sectors. For that, it should be implemented new modules to collect information regarding the competitor’s price of the products selling on each corresponding marketplaceThis work was supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad under contract TIN2017- 84553-C2-2-R. Also, the authors are members of the research group 2017-SGR363, funded by the Generalitat de Catalunya