Update of the 1994 report "Information Security and Privacy in Network Environments". Updates and develops issues in three areas: national cryptography policy, guidance on safeguarding unclassified information in federal agencies, and legal issues and information security, including electronic commerce, privacy, and intellectual property. Appendix includes: U.S. Export Controls on Cryptography, and Federal Information Security and the Computer Security Act. Charts and tables.

Update of the 1994 report "Information Security and Privacy in Network Environments". Updates and develops issues in three areas: national cryptography policy, guidance on safeguarding unclassified information in federal agencies, and legal issues and information security, including electronic commerce, privacy, and intellectual property. Appendix includes: U.S. Export Controls on Cryptography, and Federal Information Security and the Computer Security Act. Charts and tables.

Focuses on policy issues in three areas: national cryptography policy, including federal information processing standards and export controls; guidance on safeguarding unclassified information in federal agencies; and legal issues and information security, including electronic commerce, privacy, and intellectual property. Includes: computer security act and related documents and evaluation of the digital signature standard. Charts and tables.

Controversies, problems, and proposed solutions related to information security and privacy are becoming increasingly prominent among government, business, academia, and the general public. At the same time, use of information networks for business has continued to expand, and ventures to bring electronic commerce and "electronic cash" into homes and offices are materializing rapidly. Government agencies have continued to expand both the scale and scope of their network connectivities; information technologies and networks are featured prominently in plans to make government more efficient, effective, and responsive. Until recently, topics such as intrusion countermeasures for computer networks or the merits of particular encryption techniques were mostly of interest to specialists. However, in the past few years, stories about controversial federal encryption standards, 'password sniffing' and un-authorized intrusions on the Internet, the pursuit and capture of a notorious computer 'cracker, ' and export controls on computer programs that perform encryption have become front-page news.

The use of information networks for business and government is expanding enormously. Government use of networks features prominently in plans to make government more efficient, effective, and responsive. But the transformation brought about by the networking also raises new concerns for the security and privacy of networked information. This Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) report was requested by the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance. The report begins with background information and an overview of the current situation, a statement of the problems involved in safeguarding unclassified networked information, and a summary of policy issues and options. The major part of the report is then devoted to detailed discussions of policy issues in three areas: (1) cryptography policy, including federal information processing standards and export controls; (2) guidance on safeguarding unclassified information in federal agencies; and (3) legal issues and information security, including electronic commerce, privacy, and intellectual property. Appendices include Congressional letters of request; the Computer Security Act and related documents; evolution of the digital signature standard; and lists of workshop participants, reviews, and other contributors. An index is provided. A separately published eight-page OTA Report Summary is included. (JLB).