If they could achieve the same level of security available with passwords and leased lines by using the public network, they were saving money and making progress. VPNs offer a rudimentary extranet. They use an assortment of protocols to encrypt a private path for business over the Internet. This economical path guarantees confidentiality of the information transferred to the same extent as costly leased-lines. Information exchange across a VPN, however, is only protected so long as businesses control both ends of the path.
Businesses are eager, therefore, to take e-commerce security to a higher level.
Making Extranet Transactions as Secure as Paper Ones What makes an extranet truly secure is a set of technologies that implements trust. Chosen at first by institutions with high-level security needs, such as the government and banks, digital certificates are becoming more popular as a broad range of businesses seeks Internet security. The digital certificate is a passport to the extranet. Installed in a browser or on a smart card, a digital certificate authenticates the certificate holder. These certificates extend extranet access and authority to users based on their roles and business privileges, while the certificates ensure confidentiality and integrity of the data that users send, receive and access.