The Security Team: Mark Bayer - KSG Raghav Chandra - KSG Jaime Chambron - FAS Jamil Ghani - FAS Angelina Ornelas - KSG Nanthikesan S - KSG Alex C. Snoeren - MIT

While security and enforcement pose obvious and perplexing problems for Internet users, they also create tantalizing opportunities. For many online users – businesses, universities, our nation’s defense agencies, and others -- the confidence that their transactions are secure is crucial to the continued viability of this resource. The need to guarantee information integrity is a top priority. All users want the confidence that their information traveling through a network, passing through many computers and sorters, is not altered, re-routed, stolen or intercepted. And yet, the policies, guidelines, regulations, and rules being enacted to provide security and enforcement on the Internet are not widely embraced by all.

Our team project will focus on digital securities being implement and created for the Internet. The investigation will focus on today’s digital securities. It will serve as an insight on the Internet’s future (and secured) applications.

Note: We have structured our project in phases. In Phase One, Mark and Alex, with their background knowledge, will develop an introduction focusing in on three selected issues of policy and regulations, commercial interests, and the end users, and how they influence digital securities on the Internet. In Phase Two, three teams of two will develop case studies on different areas of Internet use. They will examine the impact the policy issues have in the areas selected. Team members Jaime and Nanthikesan, will investigate the uses of digital securities on a virtual university while focusing on this application’s social utilization. Angelina and Raghav will focus on the growing Internet commerce while highlighting a particular business application. Mark and Jamil will examine an aspect of governmental defense on the Internet. For the Last Phase of our project, everyone will make recommendations for the future in light of these studies. Throughout the project, Alex will lead the development of our web page.