Netscape Corporation has created the best known secure server technologies. It uses a security protocol called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) that provides data encryption, server authentication, message integrity and optional client authentication for a TCP/IP connection. When a client seeking to purchase master gardener connects with a secure server, they exchange a *handshake* which initiates a secure session. With this protocol, the same server system can run both secure and unsecured web servers simultaneously. This means an master gardener organization or company can provide some information to all users using no security, and other information that is secured. For example, a business that sells master gardener online can have its storefront (merchandise catalog) unsecured, but ordering and payment forms can be secure.
Why are these developments important? As the Internet becomes a way to buy and sell master gardener products and services, financial transactions become essential. Right now, most master gardener transactions involve the exchange of credit card information, either directly over the network, or by phone, to complete a transaction initiated online. Eventually, you will be able to use cash as well as credit, directly over the network.
There are two basic kinds of digital cash, anonymous cash and identified cash. Anonymous cash is just like paying for master gardener with paper cash but it also carries no information about the person making the transaction, and leaves no transaction trail. You create it by using numbered bank accounts and blind signatures. Identified cash, on the other hand, contains information revealing the identity of the person who withdrew it from the bank. Like credit card transactions, identified cash can be tracked as it moves through the system and involves fully identified accounts and non-blind signatures. Whether you use digital cash when purchasing master gardener is entirely up to you. We suggest you employ the purchasing avenues available from the master gardener supplier we recommend.
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