Hundreds of companies and government authorities around the world, including in the United States and China, have the power to issue the digital certificates that the system relies upon to verify a site's identity.
In this case, the attackers hacked into the site of a Dutch company, one of many that have the authority to issue the digital certificates, and obtained one that they used to impersonate Google.
Threshold cryptography is used behind the scenes by the companies, known as certificate authorities, that issue the digital security certificates that help computers and Web browsers know which servers to trust for example, when logging onto a banking website.
Entrepreneurs have been issuing the digital currencies through so-called initial coin offerings, or I.C.O.s, which have become a hot but largely unregulated method of fund-raising for technology projects.
And If I want cash in my pocket because I don't want to deal with this whole futures-backed currency thing, a company can create a bill and issue the digital currency that backs it.
n Identification system validating the legitimacy of an online commercial transaction 1994 May 4 Open System Communication (Popik) 1997 Jan 13 Chris Jones InfoWorld 21/1 Certification authorities issue the digital certificates, or IDs, that validate users involved in transactions over the Internet and other networks.
While my column in Technology Review magazine, "The Net Effect," examines larger issues of the digital age-with particular focus on privacy-here I'll bite into specifics.
Still others take issue with the "digital divide" concept itself.
These are all issues which the digital migration plan must address".
On other issues involving the digital economy, the administration of President François Hollande has sent mixed signals.
