Which of the following was developed in order to protect against fraud in electronic fund transfers (EFT) by
ensuring the message comes from its claimed originator and that it has not been altered in transmission?
A.
Secure Electronic Transaction (SET)
B.
Message Authentication Code (MAC)
C.
Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)
D.
Secure Hash Standard (SHS)
Explanation:
In order to protect against fraud in electronic fund transfers, the Message Authentication Code (MAC), ANSI
X9.9, was developed. The MAC is a check value, which is derived from the contents of the message itself, that
is sensitive to the bit changes in a message. It is similar to a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC). A MAC is
appended to the message before it is transmitted. At the receiving end, a MAC is generated from the received
message and is compared to the MAC of an original message. A match indicates that the message was
received without any modification occurring while en route.
Incorrect Answers:
A: A consortium including MasterCard and Visa developed SET in 1997 as a means of preventing fraud from
occurring during electronic payments. SET provides confidentiality for purchases by encrypting the payment
information. Thus, the seller cannot read this information. This is not what is described in the question.
C: Cyclic redundancy checking is a method of checking for errors in data that has been transmitted on a
communications link. A sending device applies a 16- or 32-bit polynomial to a block of data that is to be
transmitted and appends the resulting cyclic redundancy code (CRC) to the block. This is not what is described
in the question.
D: The Secure Hash Standard (SHS) is a set of cryptographically secure hash algorithms specified by the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This is not what is described in the question.Krutz, Ronald L. and Russel Dean Vines, The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer
Security, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2001, p. 160
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Hash_Standard