Secure communication Trust in technology or trust with technology?

Abstract

'Surfing’ the Internet is no longer merely a leisure activity, but is increasingly becoming an indispensable tool that creates a variety of economic advantages. Computer manufacturers, telecommunication companies, publishing houses, and the entertainment industry are establishing a wide range of services to help users master the growing flood of information. A great number of people, however, feel insecure, confronted by a vast technology that renders trusted forms of social behaviour useless. Secure communication is a prerequisite for human interaction, and technological security, without personal trust in the use of the technology, frequently results in bad decisions. The colloquial use of ‘security’ to imply a state free of danger is also the initial premise for the majority of research being conducted in the area of communication technology. The underlying principle for security is to identify all possible threats and risks and to develop measures to prevent dangerous situations from arising in the first place, the ‘closed security principle’. According to this principle, security is implemented by means of techniques within technology. This will be contrasted with the ‘open security principle’, which allows a degree of freedom, such that the subjective security requirement of the person in question can be individually formulated with the technology. The responsibility remains with the participant and is not delegated to the technology.