United States General Accounting Office

Information Security: Advances and Remaining Challenges to Adoption of Public Key Infrastructure Technology United States General Accounting Office

Publisher Marketing: The potential for improvements in service delivery and productivity offered by electronic government also involves threats, risks, and liabilities. Although the risks to electronic systems and the traditional systems they are designed to replace may be similar, the levels of risk may be vastly different. For example, electronic transactions lack the physical context of traditional transactions and thus involve increased risk. A paper record of a transaction can undergo forensic chemical analysis to determine whether it has been altered; however, electronic records in many systems can be altered without detection. Further, physical access is needed before a paper record can be tampered with, and such access is inherently limited. On the other hand, with the global reach of the Internet, electronic misuse and tampering can occur more quickly and with far greater impact. Finally, human participation is required on both sides of a paper-based transaction, providing the opportunity for immediate human inspection and verification of the transaction. In contrast, electronic systems may readily process transactions that would be immediately suspicious to a human observer. Unless special security features are properly implemented, electronic transactions are much more susceptible to fraud and abuse than traditional paper-based transactions.