Authentication and Time-Stamping Fritz Schwartz - X334 27 Jul 1993 13:08 UTC
A little more than a week ago I posted a message here alerting others to an interesting news item in Science on Authentication and Time-Stamping of electronically delivered journal articles. Today when I returned from a week of vacation I received the attached message from Peter Graham, which subsequently he has asked me to post here. I think many of you will be as interested in his additional information and comments as I was. I assume that his offer of an offprint is not one that he is equiped to make to very many requestors. Fritz Schwartz Manager, EDI and Standards The Faxon Company schwartz@faxon.com ======================================================================= From: Peter Graham ("psgraham@gandalf.rutgers.edu"@PMDF@CLAVIN) Date: 22-JUL-1993 10:05:04.00 To: SCHWARTZ@faxon.com Cc: mpage@zodiac.rutgers.edu Subj: Authentication and Time-Stamping From: Peter Graham, Rutgers University Libraries I've had forwarded to me your note to SERIALST (to which I'm not subscribed) about digital time-stamping, based on the article in Science early this month. I agree fully that this is a very important technology for us; the term I use is "intellectual preservation", which distinguishes the integrity of intellectual content from the integrity of the medium, which presents entirely different preservation issues. I've written on this (including a description of the BellCore technique) in articles which appeared early this year, e.g. "Intellectual Preservation in the Electronic Environment", *When the Electronic Revolution Comes...*, ed. Arnold Hirshon (ALA/ALCTS, 1993), and would be happy to send you an offprint. I can also provide citations (or copies) of the published documents of Haber and Stornetta from BellCore. The issue as I've tried to present it involves the authentication of electronic information (very easily and unnoticeably damaged or changed). Electronic information may be changed accidentally or intentionally. If intentionally, it may be with good intent (e.g. updates of various kinds) or with bad intent (e.g. fraud, whether to doctor research or fiddle with financial records). Digital time-stamping (or other forms of hashing) don't prevent change, but they allow the validation of information. I.e.: is this document the same one that the author wrote and that the electronic footnote I just read pointed me to? It seems to me this is a fundamental concern for librarians. Preservation of printed matter has generally meant preservation of the object, the artifact, which has satisfactorily preserved the intellectual content. In the electronic environment the two must be treated separately. The best information so far on medium preservation is contained in Michael Lesk, _Preservation of New Technology_ (Washington, DC: Commission on Preservation and Access, 1992). Intellectual preservation is only just beginning to be realized to be an issue, and the Science article will be helpful in getting the information out. Scott Stornetta (one of the BellCore authors) and I have spoken together at a couple of forums. Next month we both will be at the National Archives to talk on the topic. I'm pleased to know that the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (Clinton's advisor in the White House) when informed of the topic said he wanted to attend; they have an interest in electronic message preservation and integrity, as you might imagine. Whether it is this tool or another that may eventually be used I don't know, but some form of hashing technique seems likely; I agree that libraries and librarians should be current on possibilities -- and take the lead in urging the importance of the issue. If you think any of this would be useful to SERIALST please feel free to forward it. Let me know if I can provide further information. --pg Peter Graham psgraham@gandalf.rutgers.edu Rutgers University Libraries 169 College Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08903 (908)932-5908 Fax:(908)932-5888