On the Effects of Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructures on E-Commerce Environments

Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructures (AAIs) support service providers on the Internet in outsourcing security services. AAIs influence and change the process of e-commerce transactions on multiple points. Changes influence users, service providers, and provider federations likewise. This work analyses the alterations implied by an AAI, comparing various AAI paradigms and traditional service providing. Effects explored comprise new functionalities, influenced trust relationships, risk management, economic factors, and user privacy. Compared to traditional service providing on the Internet, AAI usage is generally advantageous for all involved parties. However, allocations of services and AAI architectures have a direct impact on the benefits and risks. This work enables vendors and clients to assess security infrastructures and decide on the usage.