Eavesdropping on a Mobile Purchase

Video Notes

The Internet Society has posted a brief history of the Internet.

Internet technology makes simple many types of eavesdropping. The actual work of intercepting Internet traffic is often called sniffing. Here are some articles:

Identity theft does not rely on the Internet; a theft can arise from stealing a wallet or purse. The Identity Theft Resource Center provides explanations, examples, and suggestions regarding identity theft. The Insurance Information Institute posted a summary of identity theft statistics. Stay Safe Online offers recommendations for victims of online identity theft.

The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is the recommended cipher for encrypting private data. It is a US Government standard administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). AES is a “block cipher” and NIST provides an overview of it in its block cipher summary.

Transport Layer Security (TLS) is the modern version of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), the technology that made secure web transactions practical in the 1990s. Microsoft published an introduction in an old TechNet article. The Internet Engineering Task Force offers TLS version 1.2 as the proposed standard.



Vimeo description

Explains why and how encryption protects mobile purchases and other valuable transactions. #2 in the Cryptosmith series.

Video notes: cys.me/vid/c02.

Video #3 explains how public key cryptography is used to share secrets vimeo.com/197452327

The series begins with Learning Practical Cryptography vimeo.com/189732838

See the entire Cryptosmith series in its album vimeo.com/album/4229550
The video series Grade School Crypto provides additional background information vimeo.com/189517140

Last revision: December 30, 2016