Trust is an essential element of successful business transactions and a primary factor in choosing business partners. Yet while millions of consumers have discovered the convenience of doing business online, many do not yet trust that eBusiness technology is capable of maintaining their privacy.

Industry studies have shown that the issue of trust online -- or rather, the lack of trust online -- is a major hurdle that must be addressed before eBusiness can reach its full potential. According to a Boston Consulting Group survey, there is a direct correlation between eBusiness revenues and consumer concerns about privacy. In fact, the relationship is so strong that eBusiness revenues could double by 2000 if issues of privacy are successfully addressed.

Creating an online environment that consumers can trust is a serious challenge for all eBusinesses. Those that succeed in this task stand to gain a major strategic advantage in the condensed online marketplace.

Creating trust online is no easy task. eBusinesses must not only operate in an ethical manner -- informing their customers as to what information is being collected and how it will be used -- they must also defend the information they collect from misuse. As a result, security technologies are essential to the success of eBusiness, allowing companies to safeguard the information they collect and to protect their assets, market share and reputation.

The purpose of this overview is to describe the eBusiness security environment and, in particular, the challenges of meeting threats at the application level.

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