Micro mint micropayment By: Computer Sciences and Information Technology Lecturer’s How Millicent Micropayment System Works
Millicent operates as an electronic currency system referred to as scrip, which can be used to buy electronic contents from vendors. It is used preferably for low value transactions between $. 01 and $5. 00 (Glassman et al 2013, p. 65). A customer buys the scrip from at least one broker. The scrip is transformed from broker to vendor scrip before its usage.
2. Quality of security of Millicent System
2. 1. Protection of Passwords and Credit Card Information
Consumers using Millicent system do not require providing their credit card numbers on many Web sites. There is no need to have accounts and passwords with the vendors (Yacobi 1997, p68).
2. 2. Script Safety through the Wallet
The Millicent system operates with trusted brokers and third parties between the merchants and the clients (Manasse 2012, p. 47). The merchant only contracts with the broker during the sales of the scrip to the customer.
3. Weaknesses/Downsides of the Millicent Micropayments
3. 1. Shared Key
Millicent method uses shared key between the broker, vendor and the consumer. The key usage can be compromised.
3. 2. Undesired Long Term Connection
The scrip ensures there is a permanent relationship between the customer and the vendor. This according to Rivest (1997, p. 45), is inconvenience for a vendor. To perform each transaction, the consumer goes to the broker for exchange of the vendor scrip.
4. Conclusion
In spite of the security features of Millicent System; it is still exposed to cyber crimes. Future systems ought to be improved using public keys for encryption. This can protect sensitive information from reaching intruders. Additionally, network security techniques ought to be applied to eliminate the risk of man-in-the-middle attack.
References
Glassman, S., Manasse, M., Abadi, M., Gauthier, P & Sobalvarro, P 2013, “ The MilliCent Protocol for Inexpensive Electronic Commerce”, Fourth International World Wide Web Conference, Darmstadt, Germany.
Manasse, M S 2012, “ The MilliCent Protocols for Electronic Commerce”, in D. E. Geer (Ed.), Proceedings of the First USENIX Workshop on Electronic Commerce (EC 95), New York, NY.
Rivest, R 1997, “ Electronic Lottery Tickets as Micropayments”, in R. Hirschfeld (Ed.), Financial Crypography: First International Conference (FC ‘ 97), Anguilla, British West Indies, Feb. 24-28, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Vol. 1318, pp. 307-314).
Yacobi, Y 1997, “ On the Continuum Between On-line and Off-line E-cash Systems”, in R. Hirschfeld (Ed.), Financial Cryptography: First International Conference (FC ’97), Anguilla, British West Indies, February 24-28, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Vol. 1318, pp. 193-202).
