The National Institute of Standards and Technology hosts a computer security resource clearinghouse at csrc.ncsl.nist.gov where you can find information on authentication, digital certificates and signatures, and encryption-all the current technologies that provide for secure financial transactions over the Internet. You can find a good overview of how Web browsers use encryption to create secure transaction environments in the article "Internet Security Standards: How Safe Is It to Send Your Credit Card Number Over the Internet to Make Purchases?" from PC Magazine at www.zdnet.com/
products/content/articles/199801/net.security. VeriSign makes digital authentication products, and its "Digital IDs: The New Advantage" at www.verisign.com/
clientauth/whitepaper.html is a good introduction to this technology. You can find information on different types of digital cash and the security technology that enables them at www.ssc.com/websmith/issues/i3/ws40.html. CIO magazine's Electronic Commerce Research Center at www.cio.com/forums/ec includes articles and white papers, lists of vendors and industry groups, and an online forum. You can learn about secure electronic transaction (SET) technology at www.mastercard.com/set and at www.visa.com/nt/ecomm/main.html. You'll find a handy and readable introduction to electronic commerce risks and security technology in Web Security & Commerce by Simson Garfinkel and Gene Spafford (O'Reilly & Associates, 1997).