This page provides some of the lexicon used within E-Commerce.
Anonymous FTP server
A server that allows any user to log on with the user ID, anonymous. The user's e-mail address is normally provided as the password.
Applet
An applet is written in the Java language, compiled and called from an HTML Web page.
Application Programming Interface (API)
This is a set of standard routines used for making standard functions available to custom-designed programs.
ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange refers to the `standard' alphanumeric character set.
Browser
Usually refers to a World Wide Web client program. Browsers are capable of requesting data from Web servers and processing data received in response to these requests.
Bus topology
Every node connected on a bus network is allowed to receive every transmission on that network. The main problem faced in implementing this topology is the fact that only one communication channel exists to serve the entire network. As a re sult, if this channel fails, then the whole network will go out of operation.
Certificate Authorities
Public keys are normally distributed in the form of certificates which are issued by Certificate Authorities. The CA `signs' the certificate which legally binds the public key with the claimed identity of the owner of the public key. Certificates are issued by CAs to users who wish to engage in secure communication.
CGI
Common Gateway Interface is a specification for creating programs that accept information acquired through World Wide Web pages and pass it on to other programs, or take information from other programs and make it accessible through World Wide Web p ages.
CIX
Commercial Internet Exchange is an industry organization for Internet service providers.
Client
A computer or system that makes requests for some kind of network service from another computer or system acting as a server.
Co-axial cables
Very commonly used transmission media is the co-axial cable. Co-axial cables contain a very thick copper wire at the centre surrounded by insulating material encased in a cylindrical conductor, wrapped in protective plastic. These cables provide higher bandwidth (1-2 Gbps on short distances) with superior noise immunity.
CommerceNet
It is a consortium of companies which promotes the use of Internet for electronic commerce. Sponsored by Silicon Valley vendors and US government agencies, it was launched in 1994 with the aim of creating infrastructure for business-to-busin ess transactions on the Internet.
Cryptography
The study of mathematical processes useful for keeping data secret by encryption, guaranteeing its provenance, or guaranteeing that its content has been unchanged.
Cryptosystems
Cryptographic Systems or Cryptosystems -- symmetric and asymmetric. The symmetric system is based on a single secret key which is shared by the parties engaging in secure communication. The asymmetric system hinges on the possession b y these parties of a pair of keys -- one private and the other public.
Datagram
The basic of network transmissions under TCP/IP. A basic unit of network transmission in connectionless services.
Decryption
Cryptography comprises encryption -- the process of making information unintelligible to the unauthorised reader -- and decryption -- reversing encryption to make the information readable once again. Conventional cryptography uses a secret code or key to encrypt information. The same secret key is used by the receiver to decrypt the information.
DES
Data Encryption Standard is a private key encryption standard approved by the US Government for the encryption of data when implemented in hardware. Uses 56-bit encryption and is generally accepted as sufficiently secure when correctly implemented.
Dial-up shell account
In this type of connection, a single user with a PC connects to the ISP's computer. The user has to manually download his data from the ISP's computer using a protocol such as X-Modem, Z-Modem, or Kermit.
Digital signature
The result of the application of a cryptographic process to the digital document being signed. The signer uses his or her private key (of a public/private key pair) to come up with the signature, which is a sequence of characters. The document can be verified as coming from the signer by using the signer's public key to verify the document.
DNS
Domain Name System is a distributed database system implemented across the Internet for the purpose of linking Internet host names (used by people) with Internet Protocol addresses (used by computers).
EBCDIC
Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code is the data representation standard used by IBM mainframe computers. Most other systems use ASCII representations.
EDI
Electronic data interchange (EDI) is the electronic exchange of business documents in a standard, computer-processable, universally accepted format between trading partners.
Electronic or digital cash
Electronic or digital cash (e-cash) is a new concept to execute cash payments using computers connected over networks. Digital cash can be used for making/receiving payments between customer and merchant or persons or for any money transaction.
Encapsulation
The use of headers to `surround' network data for the purpose of handling its proper routing across a network or internetwork. The result is a network transmission unit directed to some destination host, with some unspecified content that will not be accessed until it arrives at its destination.
Encryption
Cryptography comprises encryption -- the process of making information unintelligible to the unauthorised reader -- and decryption -- reversing encryption to make the information readable once again. Conventional cryptography uses a secret code or key to encrypt information. The same secret key is used by the receiver to decrypt the information.
Ethernet
A baseband networking medium, initially developed in the 1970s by Robert Metcalfe.
FDMA
Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) -- users share the transponder by prior allocation of individual channels. Single Channel Per Carrier (SCPC) is an FDMA scheme in which the input data stream is used to modulate an RF (radio frequenc y) carrier and assign dedicated carrier frequency to each client.
Fibre optical networks
Optical fibres are made from ultra-thin fibres of glass. Information is sent in the form of light pulses which, when detected, generate electric pulses. Fibre-optics can be used for LANs as well as long distance transmissions. Thi s has relatively lower attenuation and is much more difficult to tap.
File transfer protocol
The file transfer protocol (FTP) allows a user of any computer to get files from another computer, or to send files to another computer. Security is handled by requiring the user to specify a user name and password for the other c omputer.
Firewalls
Firewalls are built to protect the internal network of an organisation from attacks originating from the Internet.
Gateway
A special-purpose computer for internetwork connectivity. Often refers to a router or a system mediating between protocols, as with e-mail gateways that accept e-mail from the Internet and translate it to the appropriate e-mail protocol on the i nternal LAN.
Gopher
A character-based Internet information publishing application, developed at the University of Minnesota.
Handshake
The process of negotiating a connection between two hosts. The initiating host waits for acknowledgment from the destination host, which in turn waits for acknowledgment of its own response.
Home page
The opening document of a World Wide Web site. It may also refer to the Web document that an individual user's Web browser points to on start-up.
Host
Any device connected to a network that can send or receive requests for network services.
HTML
Hyper Text Markup Language is a language for creating World Wide Web documents, based on the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). Markup languages create plain-text files using tags to set off functional sections of the document, which are interpreted appropriately for display by the document-viewing software.
IMAP
The Internet message access protocol (IMAP) allows a client to access and manipulate electronic mail messages on a server. It permits manipulation of remote message folders, called `mailboxes', in a way that is functionally equivalent to local mail boxes.
Internet
The network of networks connecting tens of millions of users around the world.
Internet relay chat
Internet relay chat is a very popular service, being a multi-user implementation of the Unix `talk' program. Developed in 1988 by J. Oikarimen in Finland, the IRC offers a unique type of talking experience on the Net.
Interoperability
The ability of disparate computer systems to send and receive requests for network services across disparate networks, seamlessly and transparently to the end user.
IP
Internet Protocol is a protocol defining the interaction between hosts communicating across an internetwork.
IP address
A numerical address assigned to a computer connected to an internetwork that uniquely identifies it on that internetwork.
IPX
Internetwork Packet eXchange is an internetwork protocol used by Novell NetWare and other LAN operating systems.
ISDN
Integrated Services Digital Network is a type of telephone service providing high-speed (128 Kbps and up) and digital services (multiple phone lines on a single link, conferencing, and many others).
ISO's OSI model
International Standard Organization (ISO)'s open systems interconnection (OSI) reference model defines the protocols and interfaces needed to support an open system. The OSI reference model was developed to devise standards so that the c oncept of global communication across heterogeneous computer platforms could be achieved.
Key
A quantity of data used in cryptographic procedures to encrypt, decrypt, or authenticate other data.
LAN
Local Area Network is a network connected computers in the same general area, on a single network cable (or a set of cables that emulate a single wire).
MIME
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions is a specification for the linking and transfer of non-text files with Internet e-mail and other IP applications (including Usenet news).
Network
Any system of interconnected systems. In particular, the system defined by computers connected to the same communications medium in such a way that each can communicate with the other connected computers.
Network topologies
There are different topologies in which computers can be connected to one another over networks. The topologies that networks can be built around are
NFS
Network File System is a TCP/IP network protocol developed by Sun MicroSystems Inc., for sharing resources between connected workstations. Originally implemented mostly on UNIX systems, NFS implementations are now available for most platforms.
Node
A device connected to a network; more specifically refers to the network interface itself, so a multi-homed host may represent multiple nodes.
Packet
A unit of network transmission; may specifically refer to the unit of data transmitted across a packet-switched network (such as the Internet).
Post Office Protocol
An e-mail protocol used to retrieve e-mail from a service provider's machine for dial-up accounts. If the destination PC is not connected (it dials in periodically to an ISP), then a post office must be used to temporarily store the mail.Proxy servers
PPP
Point to Point Protocol is a protocol defining the connection of a single host to another host over a bi-directional link (such as a telephone line), and connection to network resources.
Private key
Of the two keys used for public key cryptography, the one that must be kept secret, so the owner of the key can decrypt messages encrypted with the public key.
Protocol
A set of rules defining the behaviors of interacting systems, particularly when applied to rules for exchanging of information between networked systems.
Public key
Of the two keys used for public key cryptography, the one that can be made public, so that senders can encrypt messages.
Public key certificate
Public keys are normally distributed in the form of certificates which are issued by certificate authorities.
Public key cryptography
The cryptographic system in which encryption is done with one key and decryption is done with another.
Remote login
The network terminal protocol (TELNET) allows a user to login to any other computer on the network by specifying the computer to connect to. Once connected, all inputs are meant for the destination computer. When the telnet program exits, t he user is back on the local computer.
Ring topology
Data flows in one direction only, with one node receiving the transmission and relaying it to the next node in the ring. Here, there is a single channel to connect the nodes. In the event of a channel failure between two nodes, the entire network goes down. This topology too is more commonly deployed in LANs.
Router
A multi-homed host (connected to at least two networks) that is able to forward network traffic from one connected network to another.
RSA algorithm
One of the most popular and widely used public key cryptosystems is the RSA algorithm developed in 1978 by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Len Adleman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Satellite communication
It provides reliable data transmission over a network of a large number of geographically distributed sites. Not only textual data, but images, voice and video are transmitted over satellite networks.
Secret key
A key that must be kept secret. The term is sometimes used to refer to the private key in asymmetric cryptography (public key cryptography), but more properly refers to a shared secret between parties who use the same key to encrypt and decry pt messages.
Secure sockets layer
The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol was developed by Netscape Communications to provide security during a communications session. SSL operates above the TCP layer and provides protection to applications such as FTP, Telnet and H TTP. This includes services such as client and server authentication, data integrity and confidentiality.
Server
Any computer connected to a network that offers services to other connected systems on the network.
SET protocol
The Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) protocol was developed by Visa and MasterCard to provide security for credit-card based payment transactions on the Internet.
SLIP
Serial Line Internet Protocol. A method of connecting a single computer to the Internet through a telephone link, SLIP is generally considered less desirable than PPP for this purpose.
Smart cards
Smart cards are similar to credit cards except that they have chips embedded in them. These cards can be used to store value and carry authentication information.
SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is the set of rules defining the transmission of electronic mail between users.
SNMP
Simple Network Management Protocol is a protocol which defines functions used to monitor and manage network resources across internetwork.
SSL
Secure Sockets Layer is a protocol first developed by Netscape and subsequently provided to the rest of the Internet community to add encryption and authentication at the network layer just below the application level.
Star topology
The topology of the star network is normally used in WANs. At the centre of a star network is the hub through which all traffic is routed. As a result, in the event of the failure of the hub computer, the network will fail too!
STT
Secure Transaction Technology is a protocol specification, released by Microsoft and Visa International late in September 1995, intended to define the interchange of credit card payment information across public and private networks.
TCP
Transmission Control Protocol is a protocol defining the way applications communicate with each other across the Internet. TCP is a reliable protocol, meaning that all transmissions between applications must be acknowledged by the recipient.
TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. The description of any network using the Internet protocols, named for the two dominant protocols used on the Internet.
Telnet
The network terminal protocol allows a user to login to any other computer on the network by specifying the computer to connect to. Once connected, all inputs are meant for the destination computer. When the telnet program exits, the user is back on the local computer.
Tree topology
The tree, or a hierarchical network topology, is one of the simpler and more common topologies found today. Reliability problems can arise in this configuration owing to the control exercised by the topmost node in the `tree'. This topolog y too is used to set up WANs.Twisted pair
UDP
User Datagram Protocol is a protocol defining a connectionless, unreliable, transport-layer service between applications on the Internet.
Unix-to-Unix Copy Protocol
A facility for transferring e-mail and network news in batch form. Part-time pooled connection is based on the UUCP. A user organisation may dial an ISP at periodic intervals, and transfer its mail, and so on. Interactive Inte rnet client-server applications are not possible through UUCP.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator is a protocol for defining the exact location of a World Wide Web resource, and for identifying the method of access, the host on which it resides, and the path and filename of the resource.
Value Added Networks
VANs provide users with a single point interface to the trading community freeing the user from the worries of handling different communication protocols, time zones and availability of the computer system at the other end -- common problems in cases where direct links have to be maintained with each trading partner.
Web server
Web servers run on any hardware platform and operating system and store documents in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML).
Wide Area Information Service
WAIS is another Internet service which uses a client-server system, and enables an Internet user to search collections of data information sources, which are maintained by a WAIS server program.
X.25 Protocol
One of the most widely-known network layer protocols is the X.25 protocol for packet switching. In packet switching, the information is broken up into packets of fixed length and sent, along with addressing and other control information, m aybe along separate routes. Re-assembling of the information is done at the destination.
X.400 Message Handling
The formal development of the X.400 series of recommendations for Message Handling Systems (MHS) was done by the CCITT, an international standardisation body in the area of telecommunications. Messaging network should be such that messages do not get lost or modified during transmission.
X.435 Protocol
A protocol specially designed for handling EDI messages. X.435 is one of a set of recommendations for message handling. It defines the message-handling application called EDI messaging (EDIMG), a form of message handling tailored for exch ange of EDI information.
X.500 Directory Services
X.500 recommendations specify the architecture and protocols to set up a distributed database system which can be accessed by open systems over computer communication networks.