It seems that they use signatures & hashes; nice work, a good advance for medical records storage, but I'd ask how keys are managed, and also what prevents me exploiting the 'hash-only' mode of sending in what I'm cliaming to be is an emergency. (Not that these invalidate the system; they're just interesting areas to work on.) E. ALLEN SMITH wrote: | "We have to make sure that the digital information and images are not | altered accidentally or surreptitiously," Wong said. "In addition, | x-rays and other imaging studies are part of the patient's medical | record and must be protected from unauthorized access." | | The system uses mathematical formulas or codes to scramble the images | through encryption. It involves a "two-key" system -- one code enables | public access but a second, private code is required to unscramble the | information. | | The private code, known only to the individual to whom the information | is transmitted, is 1,024 computer bits long, Wong said. | | In emergencies where fast transmission is needed, the unscrambled | image is transmitted with a digital "fingerprint," a smaller code that | assures the intended viewer that no one has altered the original | image. -- "It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -Hume