In the last 12 years we have observed amazing growth of electronic communication. The global approach allows us to concentrate on issues that could be influenced by activities happening on opposite sides of the Earth. Covering the most important changes in the field of information security to produce an updated text before it becomes obsolete is a lot to ask of one author, so we have asked several, each expert in their own speciality, to complete one chapter.
Overlaps are minimal, but chapters are substantially independent.
Readers can, therefore, either follow the text from the beginning to end, or pursue only their special interests without having to read the whole text. Despite their different situations both countries face surprisingly similar information security problems. Interestingly, system malfunctions rather than hackers and similar unwelcome characters are still considered to be the greatest security threats. Electronic commerce requires not only technology but also people trusting this method of doing business. In his chapter Dieter Fink discusses the components of trust for electronic commerce and the methods of building and sustaining it.