Arguments for a Holistic and Open Approach to Secure e-Government

Abstract

Security is widely acknowledged as one of the most important aspect for a successful e-Government implementation ([1], [2], [3]). Every month, new vulnerabilities and attacks are discovered and published. New security standards, patches, “fashionable” abbreviations pop up almost daily. How should a user trust the security and integrity of an e-Government portal in such an environment? This contribution starts with an overview of the technical as well as social aspects of security for an e-Government portal. They are introduced one by one and it is shown how to tackle them by emphasizing their drawbacks as well as their differences to the better-known world of e-Business. The paper finishes with by pointing out the requirements for the next generation e- Government platforms by proposing a simple and uniform approach security in its whole picture.