I am working for a firm of e-commerce consultants. I have been asked to write a report to a start-up businesses explaining the potential risks to an organisation of committing to an e-commerce system.Any business that operates online is at risk of many internet threats so it’s important that there is sufficient security to prevent any malicious harm to the business.
One the main problem that happens is identity theft. This can make customers the victims of serious fraud and damage caused by viruses can close businesses down. It’s Important that businesses show that they are safe for their customers so they will want to continue using the site.Hacking is a major problem within e-commerce.
Hacking is when somebody gains unauthorised access to data in a system or computer. E-commerce businesses need to prevent hacking from occurring so that the day to day running of the businesses isn’t disturbed and to make sure customer details are not stolen and used for fraud. To prevent hacking from occurring, specialist software can be used to look at the ports of the computer and to identify what ones are open as this is the way hackers can enter. Therefore the best way to stop hacking is to make sure all unused ports are closed by a firewall.
A firewall is a network security system that acts as a barrier to protect the system from unauthorised access.Viruses are another key risk in e-commerce. A virus is a piece of code which is capable of corrupting the system or destroying data. To prevent viruses from happening it’s important to have anti-virus software.
It must also be updated regularly to be effective. New viruses are developed all the time and anti-virus software must develop new ways to target and prevent them from doing any harm therefore it’s important to constantly. Viruses could shut down a business’s due to the malicious harm it does which means the businesses wouldn’t be able to survive.Identity theft is a risk that can also be dangerous for a business.
Identity theft is the fraudulent practice of using somebody else’s name and personal information in order to obtain credit. Identity theft is hard to detect if the thief has a lot of information about the victim. Tracing the thief is also very difficult. Lots of details are stored by an e-commerce site including, banking details, name, address and date of birth which make it easy for someone to use the details for fraud.
It’s important that e-commerce business use every method to stop unwanted access. Such as using a firewall as previously mentioned of secure sockets layer (SSL). SSL is a computing protocol that ensures the security of data sent via the internet by using encryption. It provides authentication, meaning that the server and the client need to be identified and confirm that they are who they say they are.
This can be done by HTTPs or certificate-based authentication.RSA is a cryptosystem for public-key encryption, and is widely used for securing sensitive data, particularly when being sent over an insecure network such as the Internet. The RSA certificate provides knowledge, skills and credentials that enables people to keep up with security systems within a businesses. One certificate is used to sign data with a private key and a matching verification certificate is given to the user of the data.
The user uses the verification certificate to verify that the file matches its signature. RSA certificates are an efficient encryption method that be a strong security method. It also has fast key transactions and if a key is corrupted it can be fixed.Having strong passwords is a way of protecting personal information and preventing the information from being stolen.
Using a unique password that has uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols makes the password harder to crack. It’s also important to change the password every 90 days to keep it up to date and limiting a hacker’s ability to gain access to your details. There is software that can try and break passwords to steal personal information and therefore, it’s important it is difficult and is updated regularly.Lastly, there are other alternative authentication methods.
These may include pattern authentication, fingerprint scanning, voice authentication or digital signatures. An alternative authentication method in e-commerce is a good idea to provide an extra layer of security. This might be voice authentication which can stop potential hackers from pretending to be another customer as it is a very unique way of authentication. Other means of alternative authentication methods are a very unique to the user, only the user can talk in there voice or remember a digital signature or pattern.
This allows the user to have a better choice of a memorable user identification method.Overall, there are many ways to protect personal information from being stolen. It’s important to make sure you have many security measures in place in order to keep everything secure.
