security

security
1. An asset or assets to which a lender can have recourse if the borrower defaults on the loan repayments. In the case of loans by banks and other moneylenders the security is sometimes referred to as collateral.

2. A financial asset, including shares, government stocks, debentures, bonds, unit trusts, and rights to money lent or deposited. It does not, however, include insurance policies. See also bearer security; dated security; fixed-interest security; gilt-edged security; listed security; marketable security.

3. Precautions taken in e-commerce to ensure that the following attributes are safeguarded: • Authentication. Are parties to a transaction who they claim to be? This is achieved by using digital certificates. • Privacy and confidentiality. Is transaction data protected? The consumer may want an anonymous purchase. Are all non-essential traces of a transaction removed from the public network and have all intermediary records been eliminated?. • Integrity. Are the messages sent complete? Checks are needed to ensure that messages have not been corrupted. • Non-repudiability. Could the sender deny sending the message? It is essential measures are in place to protect against repudiation. • Availability. How can threats to the continuity and performance of the system be eliminated?