I've just made a draft copy of this paper available for comment as http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut01/paper.htm, a copy of the introduction is given below. The whole thing is around 170K long (40 A4 pages when printed). If anyone has any comments to make on it, please let me know. Peter. Introduction ------------ The creation of a global electronic commerce system will provide an extremely powerful magnet for hackers, criminals, disgruntled employees, and hostile (but also "friendly") governments intelligence agencies. This problem is magnified by the nature of the Internet, which allows attackers to quickly disseminate technical details on performing attacks and software to exploit vulnerabilities. A single skilled attacker willing to share their knowledge can enable hordes of dilletantes around the world to exploit a security hole in an operating system or application software within a matter of hours. The Internet also enables an attacker to perform an attack over long distances with little chance of detection and even less chance of apprehension. The ability to carry this out more or less anonymously, at low cost, and with little chance of being caught, encourages attackers. Because of well-publicized break-ins there has been a steadily increasing demand for encryption and related security measures to be included in software products. Unfortunately these measures often consist either of "voodoo security" techniques where security is treated as a marketing checkbox only, or are rendered ineffective by the US governments refusal to allow non-americans access to the same security measures which it allows its own citizens. Organisations employing such (in)security systems may make themselves liable for damages or losses incurred when they are compromised. This paper covers the issues of using weak, US government-approved security as well as problems with flawed security measures, examines some of the measures necessary to provide an adequate level of security, and then suggests several possible solutions.