DIGITAL PSEUDONYM IDENTITY FOR E-COMMERCE

Rafael Martínez-Peláez, Francisco J. Rico-Novella, Luis A. Zarza-López

Department of Telematics Engineering, Technical University of Catalonia, C/Jordi Girona 1 i 3, Barcelona, Spain

Keywords: Digital Identity, Identity Risks, Genuine Identity.

Abstract: The identity is a unique and intransitive property which any human being possesses. Due to its

characteristics is used in Internet. Unfortunately, when a user discloses his personal information to web site

does not know the risks about his identity’s privacy. This paper describes the usefulness of user’s identity in

Internet and the problems related with their usage in web sites. To improve the user's privacy we propose a

digital pseudonym identity as an alternative to replace the used of genuine identity in Internet.

1 INTRODUCTION

The real world identity has different perspectives,

and all identities make reference to an individual

whose characteristics make him/her unique in

different fields where he/she is. Commonly, identity

is referred to the name of a person, but possibly two

or more people may have the same name. In this

case, other characteristics can make the difference

among them. We defined Genuine Identity (GI) as

all the characteristics that can be make unique a

person like address, e-mail, DNA, habits, name,

social security number, etc.

The adoption of e-commerce and use of different

Internet services have created in the customers a

necessity of having various digital identities in

different web sites. Digital identity is an effort to

recreate, to organize and to make up aspects about

genuine identity in digital world to be able to be

linked in the real world (Casassa et al., 2002).

Virtual sites request customer’s information by

web form. With this method the customer need to

give personal information to each web site in order

to have access (Koch and Wörndl, 2001).

Additionally, this mechanism converts a user

experience into tedious task.

When users use Internet to disclose theirs GI

involve risks that demands security requirements.

On the one hand, customers want to maintain their

GI’s privacy and anonymity. On the other hand,

companies need to have a mean to identify and link

an attacker in both real world and digital world.

In this paper we propose a new Digital

Pseudonym Identity (DPI) for exclusive use in

Internet. With this new proposal the users could

have the option to create digital identities in any web

site without using web form and disclose personal

information over an open network.

2 APPLICATION OF GENUINE

IDENTITY IN E-COMMERCE

The application and administration of GI’s

information is a key to develop electronic

commerce. The importance of management is

concluded in validating established profiles, and

rights in the relations (Casassa et al., 2002). The

information can be used in process related with

identity management (Koch and Wörndl, 2001;

Berthold and Köhntopp, 2001) or security

mechanisms (Clifford, 1995).

2.1 Identity Management

The implementation of identity management makes

possible to provide the user with the opportunity to

manage their digital identities reusing the

information between web sites. Identity management

system maintains the privacy not only on his/her

digital identity, but genuine identity too. Another

advantage is the control over digital identities in

terms of authenticity, lifecycle and validity

(Berthold and Köhntopp, 2001).

The main use of GI’s information is to create

accounts (figure 1). In order to create an account is

necessary specific user’s information (user profile)

such as, name, DNI or passport, address, telephone,

email, date of birth, nationality, in some cases

Martínez-Peláez R., J. Rico-Novella F. and A. Zarza-López L. (2006).

DIGITAL PSEUDONYM IDENTITY FOR E-COMMERCE.

In Proceedings of the International Conference on Security and Cryptography, pages 91-94

DOI: 10.5220/0002103700910094

 SciTePress

financial information (Koch and Wörndl, 2001). The

purpose of creating an account in a web site is to

have a digital identity that would make it unique,

and to allow receiving rights, privileges and

obligations.

Companies have a special interest in knowing its

customers with the purpose to offer a best service

and to make easier the internal administrative

operations (Smith et al., 1999). Other advantages are

the opportunity to monitoring the clients’ behaviours

for three aspects: to make a market research, to

identify business opportunities, and preventive

security.

2.2 Security Mechanisms

The importance of using the GI in Internet is to give

the option of being identified in both real and digital

world. Security mechanisms take advantage of

digital identity: authentication, authorization,

identification and non repudiation (Clifford, 1995).

– Identification is a process whereby a person is

recognised. The identification is made through

the use of digital identity. The digital identity is

created on the customer’s GI. Companies base

its trust on the user’s information. Users can be

linked in the real world by his/her digital identity

as long as the delivered information be valid and

authentic.

– Authentication is a mechanism used to verify if a

customer is really a person who says to be

(Clifford, 1995). In this case, companies can use

the information like secret piece of user’s

knowledge in order to know who he/she is.

– Authorization defines the privileges given to the

customers within the system. The privileges

involve limiting actions, granting access to

resources, and avoiding changes of identity

(Clifford, 1995). As the account was created

using the user’s GI, his/her digital identity will

have the privileges based on the information

related with him.

– Non-repudiation is the process to prevent the

denial of actions inside and outside the system.

In e-commerce, it is common the user denies

his/her participation in electronic transactions.

Companies require a mechanism to be able to

prove the user’s participation and can initialize

legal actions. For this reason the information

about the user must be true.

3 RISK SCENE IN E-COMMERCE

The participants in e-Commerce require a mutual

identification. Virtual sites are identified by the use

of digital certificate and their reputation, while a

client requires giving personal information in order

to create an account. When users disclose personal

information do not know the risk that this action

implies in the real world. The illegality is not in the

use of false identity, but the fraud is by doing so

(Smith et al., 1999).

a) Identity supplanted: After giving all the detailed

information about its GI, a customer trusts in the

private policy offered by the web site.

Unfortunately a worker could not be honest and

could use the information to mask itself under

this identity. With detailed information about a

person it is easy to make frauds or attacks as

much in Internet as in the real world (Arnold,

2000). Another scenario is when an attacker can

obtain personal information about any person in

the real world and then use it in Internet, without

victim’s knowledge.

b) Fraudulent transactions: In some cases the goal

of stealing a GI is to make fraudulent

transactions (Arnold, 2000). An attacker has an

opportunity to use a person’s identity to open

bank accounts, request for credits or play online

in a legitimate manner in virtual sites. It is

difficult for virtual sites to check authenticity

and veracity of information. From a legal point

of view, the owner of this information (GI) is

guilty (Smith et al., 1999).

c) Publication of identities: web sites are

responsible for maintaining information of their

customers in privacy. However it is possible to

make the customers information public either by

an attack or by internal errors, like it occurred in

Figure 1: General process to create a digital identity.

SECRYPT 2006 - INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SECURITY AND CRYPTOGRAPHY

October 1999 (Arnold, 2000), when the US

Army published a document with the identities

of officials in service and retired, producing a

series of frauds which affected people who

appeared in the document.

d) Identity Theft: Due to the low participation of

the customer in the process of creating an

account it is possible to produce attacks based on

the supplanting of authentication dialogue box or

the web form (Tygar et al., 1996). This is

achieved due to the high probability that a next

event would take place because always is the

same dialogue box and web form. For an

attacker is easy to imitate it and to be able to

obtain information of the customer without his

awareness.

4 OUR PROPOSAL

With the goal to offer a solution to the problem of

giving information about GI to every web site which

required having an access through public network,

so the use of new Digital Pseudonym Identity (DPI)

is proposed.

4.1 Security Requirements

Privacy and anonymity are requirements desired by

users in Internet. Companies require identifying the

user in its system.

Users’ requirements

– Privacy usually refers to maintaining personal

information in secret and autonomy. Customers

demand to maintain their personal information

privacy in transactions online and while data

may be stored.

– Anonymity is the state of being not identifiable

within a set of subjects (Pfitzmann and

Köhntopp, 2001). Anonymity is a characteristic

to avoid a relation between GI and digital

identity.

Companies’ requirements

– Pseudonym is an identifier of subjects. Whereas

be anonym and non-anonym are the extremes

with respect to GI public. A pseudonym contains

characteristics that can be used to make a

relation between GI and digital identity in legal

actions (Pfitzmann and Köhntopp, 2001).

4.2 Objectives

Our solution is to allow users to disclose personal

information about their genuine identity while

reduces risks for their privacy. Our objectives can be

summarized as follows:

– To allow users to disclose specific information

without giving it directly to the Web site.

– To allow users to create accounts in different

web sites with minimal effort.

– To allow users to standardize the company’s

request of its information.

– Provide a digital identity that can be stored in a

flexible and secure mean (smart card).

– To allow companies to store valid and authentic

user’s information.

– To allow companies to prevent identity theft.

– Provide a mean to improve network security.

4.3 Criteria for Digital Pseudonym

Identity

Taking as bases the GI the following properties are

necessary:

a) Durability: Due to the risk of security in Internet,

the cycle of life proposes is one year.

b) Mobility: Like an identity card (DNI or passport)

the digital identity must be transportable.

c) Portability: The data structure of the digital

identity must be able to be used by different

devices.

d) Revocation: In the cycle of life of the digital

identity it must be possible to revoke it.

e) Renovation: When the time of life of the digital

identity finishes, the owner must have the

opportunity to continue using it.

f) Traceable: In the case of a penal investigation, it

would be possible to know and follow an

attacker in the real world.

g) Unicity: After a digital identity is created there

must not exist another identical digital identity.

h) Untransferable: As the digital identity has

privileges and responsibilities in different web

sites it can not be transferable to other person.

4.4 Profile Scheme

We want to enable users to create their digital

identity in different web sites with minimal effort

using his/her DPI. The DPI is pseudonym because

the holder can be identified without to reveal his/her

GI. On the other hand, his/her DPI is unique and

suitable to be used to authenticate the holder.

DPI is created by a user only one a year. The

DPI is signed by a TTP (trust third party). With the

signature the holder can prove its validity. The web

sites can trust on its authenticity and integrity. The

holder of the DPI can create an account in different

sites without disclosing his/her information by web

form. On the other hand, the web sites can have the

DIGITAL PSEUDONYM IDENTITY FOR E-COMMERCE

option to accept or deny the creation of two or more

accounts for the same user (figure 2).

4.5 Comparison

In comparison with the traditional mechanism, our

proposal guarantees an amount of information

necessary to the virtual sites in order to create an

account within the system. By this mean the

following results can be obtained:

– Companies which search customers’ information

will be able to trust in its validity and

authenticity.

– The distribution of information to malicious web

sites does not affect the customer in the real

world.

– The customer does not require interacting with

any web form.

– Companies can make supervision on the

activities and behaviour of the customer without

invading his/her identity’s privacy.

– The GI theft by Internet is limited.

– Companies can have the opportunity to link an

attacker in the real world.

– DPI theft reduces the risk of being used in real

world.

– The DPI publication does not affect a customers’

privacy in real world.

– Companies will be able to reduce the frauds

made by identity supplanted.

5 CONCLUSIONS

In this paper, we presented the use of genuine

identity in Internet. The main risks related with the

use of genuine identity in Internet and how can

affect a customer in the real world have been

explained. The proposal of the use of digital

pseudonym identity has been proposed for replacing

the use and distribution of genuine identity by web

forms. Digital pseudonym identity is an effort to

motivate the adoption of e-Commerce based in the

customer’s identity authenticity and validity.

Another aim is increasing the security in web sites

and reduces problems related with the identity theft.

Future work will be made in the design and

develop of data structure in where appears the DPI

profile structure information (like in the real world

DNI or passport) and can be verifiable its

authenticity and validity by any organization or

company.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work has been partially supported by the

Spanish Research Council (CICYT) under the

project SECONNET (TSI2005-07293-C02-01).

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Figure 2: DPI Profile Structure.

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