Business

Location-based encryption

THIS WEEK NetSpeak discusses the attempts to develop encryption products that use geographic location as the key to encrypt digital content.

A notable feature of the Net is that it enables one to conduct anonymous correspondence /transactions. Net crackers often exploit this anonymity feature to attack and destroy sensitive information networks without disclosing their true identity. In this regard, the research activities of the security expert and computer science professor, Dr. Dorothy E. Denning http://www.cs.georgetown. edu/<108,SYM,126>denning), in developing a location-enabled authentication mechanism assumes significance.

Present user access controls

Access to resources and services in a computing network is controlled usually through such security tools as log-in name, password, credit card number and so on. As all of us know, most of the tools are liable to be compromised and an expert cracker can easily circumvent these security measures.

Location-based access

control

In location-based access control method one more parameter — the user's geographic location — is used. Here, the user is allowed to access only from specified locations — not from anywhere in the world. The system with the help of Global Positioning System (GPS) determines the exact location of the person attempting to reach it and permits access only if his/her location is an approved one. If not familiar with GPS technology, access the link available here: http://www.trimble.com/gps/index.html and go through the tutorial that beautifully explains the principles behind GPS and the steps involved in determining a person's geographic location.

Implications

If implemented properly, the location-based access technology has profound implications — especially for financial and business networks. For example, the security of a local network can be further enhanced as the system can be configured to reject all the users from external locations. Another possible use of this mode of access control is that it allows us to track the exact locations of intruders attempting to enter the network with malicious attempts. For more details refer this paper available at: http://www.cs.georgetown.edu/<108,SYM,126>denning/infosec/Grounding.txt

Geo-encryption

Encryption is the process of transforming data/documents so that it can only be read by a person with the necessary key/tools to decode it. An encryption mechanism in which data are altered using the `geographic location' parameter is called geo-encryption. A digital file that has been encrypted this way can be decrypted only at the specified location. This means if one person sends a geo-encrypted document, nobody else other than the receiver at the specified location will be able to read it. A video-movie can be geo-encrypted so that it can be shown only in specific movie-houses. The technology has the potential to make the process of copying music files, digital movies and so on, an absolutely futile endeavor — this also means a new type of copyright protection. As reported in an article appeared in the magazine CIO Insight — available at: http://www.cioinsight.com/article/0,3658,s=303&a=24831,00.asp -, Ms. Dorothy, with a few Net entrepreneurs, is involved in developing geo-encryption devices.

Text to MP3

It is likely that you have come across programs that read out text from applications. One limitation of these products is that you need to open both the audio program and the application that contains the text for this set-up to function. The best solution is to convert the document into an audio file so that it can be heard through any popular media player software — like Windows Media player. Here is a program that allows you to convert text documents into an audio file. The program lets you create the audio file in the `wav' or `MP3' format.

To experiment with the program — available at: http://www.nextup.com/, download and install it. The program reads text from the clipboard (or from text files) and stores the text in its memory as articles. If you want to add more texts, you can either create new articles or append to an existing article. So, to read some text into your speaker, copy the text as `articles' into the utility and click at the `Read' button. If you want to save the text as an audio file, use the button `Read to File'. You can choose the parameters such as audio output format, audio quality, output directory and so on.

The site also hosts a newsgroup reader (GroupsAloud) — available at: http://www.nextup.com/GroupsAloud — with text-to-speech facility. The program can be used to access newsgroup postings. Like the usual text newsgroup readers, this software also provides the necessary tools that lets you configure one or more newsgroup servers and subscribe to multiple newsgroups available on them. Apart from helping you read newsgroup postings, `GroupsAloud' reads out the news threads and lets you save the selected threads to audio files.

Alexa websearch

It is quite likely that regular readers of this column may be remembering the browser add-on Alexa designed to provide a web site visitor with additional information on the site such as owner's address, related sites and so on. Recently, they have floated a search engine that has both the features of Google and the Alexa search tool. After conducting the search you will get a search result list almost identical to that of Google's — as mentioned in the site the service's database is powered by Google. The highlight of the service is that the search result page contains many additional information pieces that include thumbnail images of the first three hits and links labelled `Details For'. The `Details For' section enables you to obtain such details as a site's registration information, similar sites' list and so on. Try out the service at: http://info.alexa.com/

J. Murali

(The author can be contacted at:

murali27@satyam.net.in)

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