Online banking

Online banking (or Internet banking) allows customers to conduct financial transactions on a secure website
operated by their retail or virtual bank, credit union or building society.

Features
Online banking solutions have many features and capabilities in common, but traditionally also have some that
are application specific.
The common features fall broadly into several categories

Transactional (e.g., performing a financial transaction such as an account to account transfer, paying a
bill, wire transfer... and applications... apply for a loan, new account, etc.)
o Electronic bill presentment and payment - EBPP
o Funds transfer between a customer's own checking and savings accounts, or to another
customer's account
o Investment purchase or sale
o Loan applications and transactions, such as repayments of enrollments

Non-transactional (e.g., online statements, check links, cobrowsing, chat)

o Bank statements
Financial Institution Administration Support of multiple users having varying levels of authority
Transaction approval process
Wire transfer

Features commonly unique to Internet banking include

Personal financial management support, such as importing data into personal accounting software. Some
online banking platforms support account aggregation to allow the customers to monitor all of their
accounts in one place whether they are with their main bank or with other institutions.

History
The precursor for the modern home online banking services were the distance banking services over electronic
media from the early 1980s. The term online became popular in the late '80s and referred to the use of a
terminal, keyboard and TV (or monitor) to access the banking system using a phone line. Home banking can
also refer to the use of a numeric keypad to send tones down a phone line with instructions to the bank. Online
services started in New York in 1981 when four of the citys major banks (Citibank, Chase Manhattan,
Chemical and Manufacturers Hanover) offered home banking services[1] using the videotex system. Because of
the commercial failure of videotex these banking services never became popular except in France where the use
of videotex (Minitel) was subsidised by the telecom provider and the UK, where the Prestel system was used.
The UK's first home online banking services[2] was set up by Bank of Scotland for customers of the Nottingham
Building Society (NBS) in 1983[3]. The system used was based on the UK's Prestel system and used a computer,
such as the BBC Micro, or keyboard (Tandata Td1400) connected to the telephone system and television set.
The system (known as 'Homelink') allowed on-line viewing of statements, bank transfers and bill payments. In
order to make bank transfers and bill payments, a written instruction giving details of the intended recipient had
to be sent to the NBS who set the details up on the Homelink system. Typical recipients were gas, electricity

and telephone companies and accounts with other banks. Details of payments to be made were input into the
NBS system by the account holder via Prestel. A cheque was then sent by NBS to the payee and an advice
giving details of the payment was sent to the account holder. BACS was later used to transfer the payment
directly.
Stanford Federal Credit Union was the first financial institution to offer online internet banking services to all of
its members in October 1994.[4]
Today, many banks are internet only banks. Unlike their predecessors, these internet only banks do not maintain
brick and mortar bank branches. Instead, they typically differentiate themselves by offering better interest rates
and online banking features.

Security
Protection through single password authentication, as is the case in most secure Internet shopping sites, is not
considered secure enough for personal online banking applications in some countries. Basically there exist two
different security methods for online banking.

The PIN/TAN system where the PIN represents a password, used for the login and TANs representing
one-time passwords to authenticate transactions. TANs can be distributed in different ways, the most
popular one is to send a list of TANs to the online banking user by postal letter. The most secure way of
using TANs is to generate them by need using a security token. These token generated TANs depend on
the time and a unique secret, stored in the security token (this is called two-factor authentication or
2FA). Usually online banking with PIN/TAN is done via a web browser using SSL secured connections,
so that there is no additional encryption needed.
Signature based online banking where all transactions are signed and encrypted digitally. The Keys for
the signature generation and encryption can be stored on smartcards or any memory medium, depending
on the concrete implementation.

Attacks
Most of the attacks on online banking used today are based on deceiving the user to steal login data and valid
TANs. Two well known examples for those attacks are phishing and pharming. Cross-site scripting and
keylogger/Trojan horses can also be used to steal login information.
A method to attack signature based online banking methods is to manipulate the used software in a way, that
correct transactions are shown on the screen and faked transactions are signed in the background.
A recent FDIC Technology Incident Report, compiled from suspicious activity reports banks file quarterly, lists
536 cases of computer intrusion, with an average loss per incident of $30,000. That adds up to a nearly $16million loss in the second quarter of 2007. Computer intrusions increased by 150 percent between the first
quarter of 2007 and the second. In 80 percent of the cases, the source of the intrusion is unknown but it occurred
during online banking, the report states.[5]
The most recent kind of attack is the so-called Man in the Browser attack, where a Trojan horses permits a
remote attacker to modify the destination account number and also the amount.
Countermeasures
There exist several countermeasures which try to avoid attacks. Digital certificates are used against phishing
and pharming, the use of class-3 card readers is a measure to avoid manipulation of transactions by the software

in signature based online banking variants. To protect their systems against Trojan horses, users should use
virus scanners and be careful with downloaded software or e-mail attachments.
In 2001 the FFIEC issued guidance for multifactor authentication (MFA) and then required to be in place by the
end of 2006.[6]

Smart card
A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC), is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated
circuits. There are two broad categories of ICCs. Memory cards contain only non-volatile memory storage
components, and perhaps dedicated security logic. Microprocessor cards contain volatile memory and
microprocessor components. The card is made of plastic, generally polyvinyl chloride, but sometimes
acrylonitrile butadiene styrene or polycarbonate . Smart cards may also provide strong security authentication
for single sign-on within large organizations.

Overview
A smart card may have the following generic characteristics:

Dimensions similar to those of a credit card. ID-1 of the ISO/IEC 7810 standard defines cards as nominally 85.60
by 53.98 millimetres (3.370 2.125 in). Another popular size is ID-000 which is nominally 25 by 15 millimetres
(0.984 0.591 in) (commonly used in SIM cards). Both are 0.76 millimetres (0.030 in) thick.
Contains a tamper-resistant security system (for example a secure cryptoprocessor and a secure file system) and
provides security services (e.g. protects in-memory information).
Managed by an administration system which securely interchanges information and configuration settings with
the card, controlling card blacklisting and application-data updates.
Communicates with external services via card-reading devices, such as ticket readers, ATMs, etc.

Benefits

Smart cards can provide identification, authentication, data storage and application processing.[1]

History
A smart card, combining credit card and debit card properties. The 3 by 5 mm security chip embedded in the card is
shown enlarged in the inset. The contact pads on the card enables electronic access to the chip.

In 1968 German rocket scientist Helmut Grttrup and his colleague Jrgen Dethloff invented the automated
chip card, receiving a patent only in 1982. The first mass use of the cards was as a Tlcarte for payment in
French pay phones, starting in 1983.
French inventor Roland Moreno[2] patented the memory card concept[3] in 1974. In 1977, Michel Ugon from
Honeywell Bull invented the first microprocessor smart card. In 1978, Bull patented the SPOM (Self
Programmable One-chip Microcomputer) that defines the necessary architecture to program the chip. Three
years later, Motorola used this patent in its "CP8". At that time, Bull had 1,200 patents related to smart cards. In
2001, Bull sold its CP8 division together with its patents to Schlumberger, who subsequently combined its own
internal smart card department and CP8 to create Axalto. In 2006, Axalto and Gemplus, at the time the world's
no.2 and no.1 smart card manufacturers, merged and became Gemalto.

The second use integrated microchips into all French Carte Bleue debit cards in 1992. Customers inserted the
card into the merchant's POS terminal, then typed the PIN, before the transaction was accepted. Only very
limited transactions (such as paying small highway tolls) are processed without a PIN.
Smart-card-based "electronic purse" systems store funds on the card so that readers do not need network
connectivity and entered service throughout Europe in the mid-1990s, most notably in Germany (Geldkarte),
Austria (Quick), Belgium (Proton), France (Mono[4]), the Netherlands (Chipknip and Chipper), Switzerland
("Cash"), Norway ("Mondex"), Sweden ("Cash", decommissioned in 2004), Finland ("Avant"), UK
("Mondex"), Denmark ("Danmnt") and Portugal ("Porta-moedas Multibanco").
The major boom in smart card use came in the 1990s, with the introduction of smart-card-based SIMs used in
GSM mobile phone equipment in Europe. With the ubiquity of mobile phones in Europe, smart cards have
become very common.
The international payment brands MasterCard, Visa, and Europay agreed in 1993 to work together to develop
the specifications for smart cards as either a debit or a credit card. The first version of the EMV system was
released in 1994. In 1998 a stable release of the specifications became available. EMVco, the company
responsible for the long-term maintenance of the system, upgraded the specification in 2000 and in 2004.[5]
EMVco's purpose is to assure the various financial institutions and retailers that the specifications retain
backward compatibility with the 1998 version.
With the exception of countries such as the United States EMV-compliant cards and equipment are widespread.
Typically, a country's national payment association, in coordination with MasterCard International, Visa
International, American Express and JCB, jointly plan and implement EMV systems.
Contactless smart cards that do not require physical contact between card and reader are becoming increasingly
popular for payment and ticketing applications such as mass transit and highway tolls. Visa and MasterCard
have agreed to an easy-to-implement version that was deployed in 20042006 in the USA. Most contactless fare
collection implementations are custom and incompatible, though the MIFARE Standard card from Philips has a
considerable market share in the US and Europe.
Smart cards are also being introduced in personal identification and entitlement schemes at regional, national,
and international levels. Citizen cards, drivers licenses, and patient card schemes are appearing. In Malaysia,
the compulsory national ID scheme MyKad includes eight different applications and has 18 million users.
Contactless smart cards are part of ICAO biometric passports to enhance security for international travel.

Contact smart card

Contact smart cards have a contact area of approximately 1 square centimetre (0.16 sq in), comprising several
gold-plated contact pads. These pad provide electrical connectivity when inserted into a reader.[6]
The ISO/IEC 7810 and ISO/IEC 7816 series of standards define:

physical shape and characteristics

electrical connector positions and shapes
electrical characteristics
communications protocols, including commands sent to and responses from the card
basic functionality

Cards do not contain batteries; energy is supplied by the card reader.

Reader

Contact smart card readers are used as a communications medium between the smart card and a host, e.g. a
computer, a point of sale terminal, or a mobile telephone.
Because the chips in financial cards are the same Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) as in mobile phones,
programmed differently and embedded in a different piece of PVC, chip manufacturers are building to the more
demanding GSM/3G standards. So, for example, although EMV allows a chip card to draw 50 mA from its
terminal, cards are normally well below the telephone industry's 6 mA limit. This allows smaller and cheaper
financial card terminals.

Contactless
A second card type is the contactless smart card, in which the card communicates with and is powered by the
reader through RF induction technology (at data rates of 106 to 848 kilobits/second). These cards require only
proximity to an antenna to communicate. They are often used for quick or hands-free transactions such as
paying for public transportation without removing the card from a wallet.
ISO/IEC 14443 is the standard for contactless smart card communications. It defines two types of contactless
cards ("A" and "B"). Proposals for ISO/IEC 14443 types C, D, E, F and G have been rejected by the
International Organization for Standardization.[citation needed] An alternative standard is ISO/IEC 15693, which
allows communications at distances up to 50 centimeters (19.7 in).
Examples of widely used contactless smart cards are Hong Kong's Octopus card, Shanghai's Public
Transportation Card, Moscow's Transport/Social Card, South Korea's T-money (bus, subway, taxi),
Melbourne's myki, the Netherlands' OV-chipkaart, Milan's Itinero, London's Oyster card, London's sQuidcard
which is used for small payments in Thames Ditton, Bolton and Dundee, Japan Rail's Suica card, Iran's
Metropolitans Subway Corp., Israel's Rav-Kav, Mumbai's Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport and
Beijing's Municipal Administration and Communications Card. All of them are primarily designed for public
transportation payment and other electronic purse applications.

Electronic money
Electronic money (also known as e-currency, e-money, electronic cash, electronic currency, digital money,
digital cash or digital currency) refers to money or scrip which is only exchanged electronically. Typically,
this involves the use of computer networks, the internet and digital stored value systems. Electronic Funds
Transfer (EFT) and direct deposit are all examples of electronic money. Also, it is a collective term for financial
cryptography and technologies enabling it.
While electronic money has been an interesting problem for cryptography (see for example the work of David
Chaum and Markus Jakobsson), to date, the use of e-money has been relatively low-scale. One rare success has
been Hong Kong's Octopus card system, which started as a transit payment system and has grown into a widely
used electronic money system. Two other cities have implemented functioning electronic money systems. Very
similar to Hong Kong's Octopus card, Singapore has an electronic money program for its public transportation
system (commuter trains, bus, etc.), based on the same type of (FeliCa) system. The Netherlands has also
implemented an electronic money system known as Chipknip, which is based upon the same system in Hong
Kong.
A number of electronic money systems use Contactless payment transfer in order to facilitate easy payment and
give the payee more confidence in not letting go of their electronic wallet during the transaction.

Electronic money systems

In technical terms, electronic money is an online representation, or a system of debits and credits, used to
exchange value within another system, or within itself as a stand alone system. In principle this process could
also be done offline.
Occasionally, the term electronic money is also used to refer to the provider itself. A private currency may use
gold to provide extra security, such as digital gold currency. Some private organizations, such as the US
military use independent currencies such as Eagle Cash.
Centralised systems

Many systemssuch as Paypal, WebMoney, cashU, and Hub Culture's Venwill sell their electronic currency
directly to the end user, but other systems only sell through third party digital currency exchangers.
In the case of Octopus card in Hong Kong, electronic money deposits work similarly to regular bank deposits.
After Octopus Card Limited receives money for deposit from users, the money is deposited into a bank. This is
similar to debit-card-issuing banks redepositing money at central banks.
Some community currencies, like some LETS systems, work with electronic transactions.
Decentralised systems

Decentralised electronic money systems include:

Bitcoin, an anonymous distributed electronic money system

Ripple monetary system, a project to develop a distributed system of electronic money independent of local
currency.
PKTP, a pseudonymous distributed electronic money system

Offline 'anonymous' systems

In the use of offline electronic money, the merchant does not need to interact with the bank before accepting
money from the user. Instead merchants can collect monies spent by users and deposit them later with the bank.
In principle this could be done offline, i.e. the merchant could go to the bank with his storage media to
exchange e-money for cash. Nevertheless the merchant is guaranteed that the user's e-money will either be
accepted by the bank, or the bank will be able to identify and punish the cheating user. In this way a user is
prevented from spending the same funds twice (double-spending). Offline e-money schemes also need to
protect against cheating merchants, i.e. merchants that want to deposit money twice (and then blame the user).
Using cryptography, anonymous ecash was introduced by David Chaum. He used blind signatures to achieve
unlinkability between withdrawal and spend transactions.[1] In cryptography, e-cash usually refers to
anonymous e-cash. Depending on the properties of the payment transactions, one distinguishes between online
and offline e-cash. The first offline e-cash system was proposed by Chaum and Naor.[2] Like the first on-line
scheme, it is based on RSA blind signatures.

Future progression
The main focuses of electronic money development are:

1. being able to use it through a wider range of hardware such as secured credit cards
2. linked bank accounts that would generally be used over an internet means, for exchange with a secure
micropayment system such as in large corporations (PayPal).

Issues
Although electronic money can provide many benefitssuch as convenience and privacy, increased efficiency
of transactions, lower transaction fees, and new business opportunities with the expansion of economic
activities on the Internetthere are many potential issues with the use of e-money. The transfer of digital
currencies raises local issues such as how to levy taxes or the possible ease of money laundering. There are also
potential macro-economic effects such as exchange rate instabilities and shortage of money supplies (total
amount of electronic money versus the total amount of real money available, basically the possibility that digital
cash could exceed the real cash available).
Another issue is related to computer crime, in which computer criminals may actually alter computer databases
to steal electronic money or by reducing an account's amount of electronic money. One way to resolve these
issues is by implementing cyberspace regulations or laws that regulate the transactions and watch for signs of
fraud or deceit.
As recently discussed by several scientists and economists a society highly dependent on electronic money
could make the whole monetary system vulnerable towards massive solar storms equivalent to for example the
Carrington event of 1859 3, 4.

Electronic commerce
Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, or e-business consists of the buying
and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks.
The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown extraordinarily with widespread Internet usage. The
use of commerce is conducted in this way, spurring and drawing on innovations in electronic funds transfer,
supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI),
inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically
uses the World Wide Web at least at some point in the transaction's lifecycle, although it can encompass a wider
range of technologies such as e-mail as well.
A large percentage of electronic commerce is conducted entirely electronically for virtual items such as access
to premium content on a website, but most electronic commerce involves the transportation of physical items in
some way. Online retailers are sometimes known as e-tailers and online retail is sometimes known as e-tail.
Almost all big retailers have electronic commerce presence on the World Wide Web.
Electronic commerce that is conducted between businesses is referred to as business-to-business or B2B. B2B
can be open to all interested parties (e.g. commodity exchange) or limited to specific, pre-qualified participants
(private electronic market). Electronic commerce that is conducted between businesses and consumers, on the
other hand, is referred to as business-to-consumer or B2C. This is the type of electronic commerce conducted
by companies such as Amazon.com. Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce where the buyer is
directly online to the seller's computer usually via the internet. There is no intermediary service. The sale and
purchase transaction is completed electronically and interactively in real-time such as Amazon.com for new
books. If an intermediary is present, then the sale and purchase transaction is called electronic commerce such
as eBay.com.

Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the
exchange of data to facilitate the financing and payment aspects of the business transactions.

History
The meaning of electronic commerce has changed over the last 30 years. Originally, electronic commerce
meant the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, using technology such as Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These were both introduced in the late 1970s, allowing
businesses to send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically. The growth and
acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the 1980s were also
forms of electronic commerce. Another form of e-commerce was the airline reservation system typified by
Sabre in the USA and Travicom in the UK.
From the 1990s onwards, electronic commerce would additionally include enterprise resource planning systems
(ERP), data mining and data warehousing.
An early example of many-to-many electronic commerce in physical goods was the Boston Computer
Exchange, a marketplace for used computers launched in 1982. An early online information marketplace,
including online consulting, was the American Information Exchange, another pre Internet[clarification needed] online
system introduced in 1991.
In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee invented the WorldWideWeb web browser and transformed an academic
telecommunication network into a worldwide everyman everyday communication system called internet/www.
Commercial enterprise on the Internet was strictly prohibited until 1991.[1] Although the Internet became
popular worldwide around 1994 when the first internet online shopping started, it took about five years to
introduce security protocols and DSL allowing continual connection to the Internet. By the end of 2000, many
European and American business companies offered their services through the World Wide Web. Since then
people began to associate a word "ecommerce" with the ability of purchasing various goods through the Internet
using secure protocols and electronic payment services.

Business applications
Some common applications related to electronic commerce are the following:

Email
Enterprise content management
Instant messaging
Newsgroups
Online shopping and order tracking
Online banking
Online office suites
Domestic and international payment systems
Shopping cart software
Teleconferencing
Electronic tickets

e-Government
e-Government (short for electronic government, also known as e-gov, digital government, online
government, connected government or transformational government) is creating a comfortable, transparent,

and cheap interaction between government and citizens (G2C government to citizens), government and
business enterprises (G2B government to business enterprises) and relationship between governments (G2G
inter-agency relationship). There are four domains of e-government namely, governance, information and
communication technology(ICT), business process re-engineering(BPR)and e-citizen.

Defining e-Government and e-Governance

Definitions of e-Government and e-Governance abound in literature. Definitions for e-Government and eGovernance range from the working definitions like the ability for anyone visiting the city website to
communicate and/or interact with the city via the Internet in any way more sophisticated than a simple email
letter to the generic city (or webmaster) email address provided at the site[1] to the use of technology to
enhance the access to and delivery of government services to benefit citizens, business partners and
employees[2]. Focus of these definitions range from those focusing on Information and communication
technologies (ICTs) to those focusing on ICT-enabled government and governance transformation. Some
examples of such definitions include:

The use of ICTs, and particularly the Internet, as a tool to achieve better government.[3]
The use of information and communication technologies in all facets of the operations of a government
organization.[4]
The continuous optimization of service delivery, constituency participation and governance by transforming
internal and external relationships through technology, the Internet and new media. [5]

Whilst e-Government has traditionally been understood as being centered around the operations of government,
e-Governance is understood to extend the scope by including citizen engagement and participation in
governance. As such, following in line with the OECD definition of e-Government, e-Governance can be
defined as the use of ICTs as a tool to achieve better governance.

Delivery models and activities of e-Government

The primary delivery models of e-Government can be divided into:

Government-to-Citizen or Government-to-Consumer (G2C)

Government-to-Business (G2B)
Government-to-Government (G2G)
Government-to-Employees (G2E)

Within each of these interaction domains, four kinds of activities take place:[6][7]

pushing information over the Internet, e.g.: regulatory services, general holidays, public hearing schedules, issue
briefs, notifications, etc.
two-way communications between the agency and the citizen, a business, or another government agency. In
this model, users can engage in dialogue with agencies and post problems, comments, or requests to the
agency.
conducting transactions, e.g.: lodging tax returns, applying for services and grants.
governance, e.g.: online polling, voting, and campaigning.

Non-internet e-Government
While e-government is often thought of as "online government" or "Internet-based government," many nonInternet "electronic government" technologies can be used in this context. Some non-Internet forms include

telephone, fax, PDA, SMS text messaging, MMS, wireless networks and services, Bluetooth, CCTV, tracking
systems, RFID, biometric identification, road traffic management and regulatory enforcement, identity cards,
smart cards and other Near Field Communication applications; polling station technology (where non-online evoting is being considered), TV and radio-based delivery of government services, email, online community
facilities, newsgroups and electronic mailing lists, online chat, and instant messaging technologies.

Potential benefits and risks of e-Government

Risks

There are many considerations and potential implications of implementing and designing e-government,
including disintermediation of the government and its citizens, impacts on economic, social, and political
factors, vulnerability to cyber attacks, and disturbances to the status quo in these areas.[8]. See also Electronic
leviathan.
[edit] Hyper-surveillance

Increased contact between government and its citizens goes both ways. Once e-government begins to develop
and become more sophisticated, citizens will be forced to interact electronically with the government on a larger
scale. This could potentially lead to a lack of privacy for civilians as their government obtains more and more
information on them. In a worse case scenario, with so much information being passed electronically between
government and civilians, a totalitarian-like system could develop. When the government has easy access to
countless information on its citizens, personal privacy is lost.[9][10]
[edit] Is Hyper-Surveillance Too Much?

Moores law states, our rate of technological development and advances in the semiconductor industry, the
complexity of integrated circuits doubles every 24 months. Although in 1965 Moore's law was initially made in
the form of an observation and prediction, the more widely it became accepted the more it served as a goal for
an entire industry. This also rings true today; Moores Law is a statement of how fast technology increases in
complexity and efficiency each year.
With the speed that technology continues to increase, it has become economically feasible for government
agencies (from the local level to the federal level), to implement all measures of surveillance. From simple
video surveillance systems found in the red light traffic cameras that will automatically take a video of your
vehicle running a red light, which then generates an automated ticket to be mailed to you home, to the complex
internet surveillance systems used by homeland security and the FBI.
Hyper-Surveillance has become a part of our everyday lives. There isnt a day that goes by where we arent
monitored with some form of technology. Security cameras in our local supermarket are recording our presence;
the firewall at our work is monitoring the web sites we visit, and in some cases, emails are monitored for key
words that could be considered offensive.
Some may feel that certain aspects of E-Governments use of hyper-surveillance are encroaching on their civil
liberties. While others feel that with the tragic events of 9/11, its a necessary evil that we must all live with in
order to keep our loved ones from harm. Whether the government has gone too far, or if enough safeguards are
in place to protect citizens from abuse, is subjective and up to open for debate.
In Local government, Hyper-Surveillance is commonly found in the form of traffic or red light cameras in the
more busy intersections. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, annually nearly 2 million
crashes occur in intersections. In 2005, red light running resulted in 800 fatalities and over 165,000 injuries

nation-wide. Last year, [The City of] Lynnwood [in Washington state] experienced nearly 1,400 collisions,
many of which occurred within or immediately around intersections.[] It is believed that an automated red light
camera program will reduce the number of red light collisions and injuries associated with such crashes. [11]
[In New York city,] on the heels of breaking up an alleged bomb terror plot, [the city] is planning to place
high-tech security cameras, license plate readers, and "weapons sensors" in midtown Manhattan.[ ] Sensors will
try to detect chemical, biological, and radiological threats. [12]
There is some debate on whether the deployment of this hyper-surveillance equipment will deter terrorists. One
of the places the federal government employs Hyper-Surveillance is most notably in the war on terror. One
example of where hyper-surveillance has worked is in the foiled attempt of a terrorist plot to bomb the Holland
tunnel. [The] plot was discovered through the monitoring of Internet chat rooms. [13]
Electronic eavesdropping devices such as the Carnivore Surveillance tool are used to perform a digital wire tap
of a users internet activity and record information specific to that user. Once installed it uses a packet-sniffing
software program to trace emails sent and received by the targeted user. The program sifts through all the
emails and conversations and records the data on a removable hard drive. In some cases the program can be
setup to look for certain words or phrases. [14]
Since 9/11 there have been 19 foiled terrorist attacks in part due to the use of hyper-surveillance technologies.
[15]

If law enforcement agents use special software to sort though great numbers of emails essentially tolling the
entire internet for the transmissions that they are authorized by the Title III [search] order to intercept[.] Does
the search become even more intrusive, and should it be subject to even greater restrictions that a standard
wiretap or reading of electronic mail? There appears to be no reason to do so, in fact, the actual sifting through
email which is done by Carnivore does not, itself implicate the Fourth Amendment[.] It is equivalent to an FBI
agent going to the post office and looking at the writing on the envelopes of the letters there is order to find the
ones that are addressed to a specific individual. [16]
On Jul 10, 2008, Congress passed the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which provides blanket retroactive
immunity to telecommunications companies that assisted the "terrorist surveillance program" (TSP). This
provision allows the Attorney General to immunize these private parties from suit by certifying that President
Bush requested their assistance and assured them that their actions were legal. [17]
With the passing of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, it has been easier for the federal government to use
hyper-surveillance to collect information, on suspected terrorists. Lawsuits have been filed stating the
telecommunications companies have impeded civil rights in the use of this blanket immunity but to date most
have been dismissed. Surveillance means continual observation of a person or group, especially one suspected
of doing something illegal.
[edit] Cost

Although a prodigious amount of money has been spent on the development and implementation of egovernment, some say it has yielded only a mediocre product. The outcomes and effects of trial Internet-based
governments are often difficult to gauge or unsatisfactory.[18]

[edit] Inaccessibility

An e-government site that provides web access and support often does not offer the potential to reach many
users including those who live in remote areas, are homebound, have low literacy levels, exist on poverty line
incomes, suffer from chronic illness, are single parents or older adults.[19]
[edit] False sense of transparency and accountability

Opponents of e-government argue that online governmental transparency is dubious because it is maintained by
the governments themselves. Information can be added or removed from the public eye (i.e. the Internet) with
or without public notice. For example, after the World Trade Center in New York City was attacked on
September 11, 2001, United States federal officials removed a large amount of government information from its
websites in the name of national security. This act went relatively unnoticed by United States citizens. To this
day, very few organizations monitor and provide accountability for these modifications. Those that do so, like
the United States OMBWatch [1] and Government Accountability Project, are often nonprofit volunteers. Even
the governments themselves do not always keep track of the information they insert and delete.[20]
[edit] Benefits

It is convenient and cost-effective for businesses, and the public benefits by getting easy access to the most
current information available without having to spend time, energy and money to get it.
E-government helps simplify processes and makes access to government information more easily accessible for
public sector agencies and citizens. For example, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles simplified the process
of certifying driver records to be admitted in county court proceedings.[21] Indiana became the first state to allow
government records to be digitally signed, legally certified and delivered electronically by using Electronic
Postmark technology. In addition to its simplicity, e-democracy services can reduce costs. Alabama Department
of Conservation & Natural Resources, Wal-Mart and NIC developed an online hunting and fishing license
service utilizing an existing computer to automate the licensing process. More than 140,000 licenses were
purchased at Wal-Mart stores during the first hunting season and the agency estimates it will save $200,000
annually from service.[22]
The anticipated benefits of e-government include efficiency, improved services, better accessibility of public
services, and more transparency and accountability.[8]
[edit] Democratization
Main article: E-democracy

One goal of e-government will be greater citizen participation. Through the internet, people from all over the
country can interact with politicians or public servants and make their voices heard. Blogging and interactive
surveys will allow politicians or public servants to see the views of the people they represent on any given issue.
Chat rooms can place citizens in real-time contact with elected officials, their offices or provide them with the
means to replace them by interacting directly with public servants, allowing voters to have a direct impact and
influence in their government. These technologies can create a more transparent government, allowing voters to
immediately see how and why their representation in the capital is voting the way they are. This helps voters
better decide who to vote for in the future or how to help the public servants become more productive. A
government could theoretically move more towards a true democracy with the proper application of egovernment. Government transparency will give insight to the public on how decisions are made and hold
elected officials or public servants accountable for their actions. The public could become a direct and
prominent influence in government legislature to some degree.[23][24][25][26]

E-Services
The concept of E-service (short for electronic service),represents one prominent application of utilizing the use
of Information and communication technologies (ICTs) in different areas. However, providing an exact
definition of e-service is hard to come by as researchers have been using different definitions to describe eservice. Despite these different definitions, it can be argued that they all agree about the role of technology in
facilitating the delivery of services which make them more of electronic services.
It seems compelling to adopt Rowley (2006)[1] approach who defines e-services as: deeds, efforts or
performances whose delivery is mediated by information technology. Such e-service includes the service
element of e-tailing, customer support, and service delivery. This definition reflect three main componentsservice provider, service receiver and the channels of service delivery (i.e., technology). For example, as
concerned to public e-service, public agencies are the service provider and citizens as well as businesses are the
service receiver. The channel of service delivery is the third requirement of e-service. Internet is the main
channel of e-service delivery while other classic channels (e.g. telephone, call center, public kiosk, mobile
phone, television) are also considered.

Origin of the term E-service

Since its conceptual inception in the late 1980s in Europe and formal introduction in 1993 by the US
Government [2], the term E-Government has now become one of the recognized research domains especially in
the context of public policy and now has been rapidly gaining strategic importance in public sector
modernization [3]. E-service is one of the branches of this domain and its attention has also been creeping up
among the practitioners and researchers [4].

E-service benefits
Lu (2001)[5] identifies a number of benefits for e-services, some of these are:

Accessing a greater customer base

Broadening market reach
Lowering of entry barrier to new markets and cost of acquiring new customers
Alternative communication channel to customers
Increasing services to customers
Enhancing perceived company image
Gaining competitive advantages
Potential for increasing customer knowledge

E-service domain
The term E-service has many applications and can be found in many disciplines. The two dominant
application areas of e-services are:
E-Business (or E-Commerce): e-services mostly provided by businesses or Non-government Organizations
(NGOs) (private sector).
E-government: e-services provided by government to citizens or business (public sector is the supply side). The
use and description of the e-service in this page will be limited to the context of e-government only where of the
e-service is usually associated with prefix public: Public e-services. In some cases, we will have to describe

aspects that are related to both fields like some conferences or journals which cover the concept of e-Service
in both domains of e-government and e-business.

Architecture
Depending on the types of services, there are certain functionalities required in the certain layers of e-service
architectural framework, these are but not limited to Data layer (data sources), processing layers ( customer
service systems, management systems, data warehouse systems, integrated customer content systems),
exchange layer (Enterprise Application Integration EAI), Interaction layer ( integrating e-services), and
presentation layer (customer interface through which the web pages and e-services are linked).

E-service cost factor

Some major cost factors are (Lu, 2001)[11]:

Expense of setting up applications

Maintaining applications
Internet connection
Hardware/software
Security concerns
legal issues
Training; and
Rapid technology changes

Practical Examples of E-Services in the Developing World

Information Technology is a powerful tool for accelerating economic development. Developing countries have
focused on the development of ICT during the last two decades and as a result, it has been recognized that ICT
is critical to economy and is as a catalyst of economic development. So, in recent years there seems to have
been efforts for providing various e-services in many developing countries since ICT is believed to offer
considerable potential for the sustainable development of e-Government and as a result, e-Services.[12]
Many government agencies in developed countries have taken progressive steps toward the web and ICT use,
adding coherence to all local activities on the Internet, widening local access and skills, opening up interactive
services for local debates, and increasing the participation of citizens on promotion and management of the
territory(Graham and Aurigi, 1997)[13].
But the potential for eGovernment in developing countries remains largely unexploited, even though. ICT is
believed to offer considerable potential for the sustainable development of eGovernment. Different human,
organizational and technological factors, issues and problems pertain in these countries, requiring focused
studies and appropriate approaches. ICT, in general, is referred to as an enabler, but on the other hand it
should also be regarded as a challenge and a peril in itself. The organizations, public or private,which ignore the
potential value and use of ICT may suffer pivotal competitive disadvantages. Nevertheless, some eGovernment
initiatives have flourished in developing countries too, e.g. Brazil, India, Chile, etc. [14] What the experience in
these countries shows, is that governments in the developing world can effectively exploit and appropriate the
benefits of ICT, but eGovernment success entails the accommodation of certain unique conditions,needs and
obstacles. The adaptive challenges of eGovernment go far beyond technology, they call for organizational
structures and skills, new forms of leadership, transformation of public-private partnerships (Allen et al.,
2001)[15].Following are a few examples regarding e-services in some developing countries:

E-filing of Income Tax Return Online

Written By: Suhas on January 10, 2010 18 Comments
E-Filing of Income Tax Return is the process of electronically filing IT returns through the internet. You no
longer
have
to
stand
in
long
queues
to
file
income
tax
returns!!!
We earlier covered details on who need to File an Income Tax Return in India and the Income Tax Forms
in which such returns need to be furnished. The return form, along with copies of necessary supporting
documents, has to be filed atthe appropriate income tax office or special counters set up for this purpose by
Income Tax Department, India.
While eFiling of Income Tax Returns is mandatory for a company and a firm liable to audit under section
44AB of the IT Act, it is optional for other categories of Indian Direct tax payers.There are three options for
furnishing Income Tax Returns electronically.

Use digital signature in which case no paper return is required to be submitted

File without digital signature in which case ITR-V form is to be filed with the department. This is a
single page receipt cum verification form
File through an e-return intermediary who would do e-filing and also assist the assessee file the ITR-V
Form

How to File an Income Tax Return Online?

Register on incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in and create a user id/password. The following is a flowchart of steps

to file an income tax return online.

Check the heads of income under which the tax payer would be assessed and determine the appropriate Income
Tax Return.

Select appropriate type of Return from the various Indian Income Tax Forms for different assessees
Download Return Preparation Software for selected Return from incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in
Fill your income tax return offline
If there is any tax payable, make an Income Tax Payment Online and generate the challan counterfoil
with CIN
Complete the income tax return by filling the generated the challan counterfoil with CIN, payment
details and bank name through which e-payment has been made.
Next, generate a XML file from the filled return using the downloaded software (XML is a format in
which the IT department captures the required information directly into its database)
Login to incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in and click on relevant form on left panel and select Submit
Return
Browse to select XML file and click on Upload button
On successful upload acknowledgement details would be displayed. Click on Print to generate
printout of acknowledgement/ITR-V Form.

Incase the return is digitally signed, on generation of Acknowledgement the Return Filing process gets
completed. You may take a printout of the Acknowledgement for your record.
Incase the return is not digitally signed, on successful uploading of e-Return, the ITR-V Form would be
generated which needs to be printed by the tax payers. This is an acknowledgement cum verification form. The
tax payer has to fill-up the verification part and verify the same. A duly verified ITR-V form should be
submitted with the local Income Tax Office within 15 days of filing electronically. This completes the Return
filing process for non-digitally signed Returns.
It is important to fill up PAN number in the Income Tax return. To obtain a pan card,you can make a pan card
application online or download and print a pan application form and submit it offline. You can also know pan
card status (pan status) online!!!