Secure e-business

By Linda Musthaler
Network World Technology Executive Newsletter, 06/10/02

Ask just about any company if it has implemented an e-business model, and you likely will hear, " Yes! We do business over the Web! " However, most of what companies are calling online transactions are just simple, single dimension credit card transactions. The migration to real e-commerce, which involves Web-enabling and automation of all the transaction components of commerce, has barely begun.

In fact, much of the information that originates as electronic data exchanged via the Internet drops down to paper mode to accommodate entrenched business processes. By some estimates, 95% of all transactions are still paper-based in some way. For example, you may receive a document (such as a contract) via e-mail, but then must print it, add your signature to it, and send it on via regular or express mail.

Why are we still so tied to paper copies and manual processes? Old habits die hard, and we like to have our paper trail so we can point to authorized signatures on documents. Many people are still uncomfortable with the notion of an electronic signature as being legally binding - yet it is.

Federal legislation (the Government Paperwork Elimination Act) was e-signed into law in 2000 and gave electronic signatures as much legal validity as a manually signed document. Thus, all 50 states can now accept electronic signatures on all types of documents. Various state and federal agencies, in fact, are being encouraged (or even mandated) to hasten the move toward electronic signatures and e-documents.

We also tend to feel that an electronic document isn't as secure as one that is strictly paper-based. Would you, as a consumer, feel comfortable with your mortgage application - with all your critical financial information - floating around the Internet? Oddly enough, many of us believe it is more secure to have that information on a piece of paper - even though we have no idea who is viewing that paper.

Utah-based NxLight is addressing these very concerns in order to pave the way to fully automated e-business solutions. NxLight has developed an eTransaction Architecture that handles the security, privacy, assurance, enforceability and automation of electronic transactions.

NxLight is working with specific " business ecosystems " to implement its transaction architecture. The highest level of payback is achieved when all of the business entities that share a part of a process buy into the full automation of that process.

For example, in the case of issuing a student loan, many different business entities are involved. You have the student who initiates the loan request. There's the university that will receive the money, the financial institute that will provide the money, and a government agency that may back the loan guarantee. Central to this process is the data - highly private financial data - that the entities must share.

The NxLight eTransaction platform utilizes XML documents for the interchange and automation of the loan application data. The platform puts a tamper-proof seal around the document for security. It can also encrypt the document for added security. It maintains an audit trail of anyone who handles or views the document. Finally, it adds a workflow component to transmit the document from one entity to another at the appropriate time.

Every person or business that needs to process a portion of the student loan application gets the data he needs in an electronic form that flows into the subsequent portion of the process. The audit trail lets you see who has done what with the data.

NxLight has several business ecosystems as proof points for the success of its architecture. The State of Utah used a NxLight-driven solution to implement its incentive loan funding process. Novell uses this technology for its new worldwide contract license signing application. The insurance industry has built the Rapid Issue Insurance application process. Other ecosystems are in development.

You can purchase this eTransaction Architecture as a service from NxLight, whereby NxLight hosts the application and charges by the transaction. Or, you can purchase the software and install it on your own servers or desktops. Either way, NxLight says it is selling " trusted transactions. "