Trustworthy browsing - A secure web accessing model

Abstract

The web technology we are enjoying now is insecure, especially for accessing sensitive information. There is no solution that provides highly reliable user authentication to prove the identity of the information requestor to the server, nor a solution that securely protects the browsed information from being stolen. To solve this problem, the Trustworthy Browsing system, based on a special browsing paradigm, is designed and developed. It employs a hardware-software hybrid solution and the key elements include the use of cryptographic hardware token for ensuring the user's identity, a customized browser to protect the contents, and an authentication protocol for verifying HTTP requests from the browser. The proposed solution can be integrated into applications for e-Education providers, e-Books publisher as well as electronic artwork publishers. In this paper, a detailed description and an in-depth security analysis for this system are given. © 2005 IEEE.