Monday, April 21, 2008
E-Commerce Common Threats
E-commerce Systems are based upon Internet use, which provides open and easy communications on a global basis. However, because the Internet is unregulated, unmanaged and uncontrolled, it poses a wide range of risks and threats to the systems operating on it. The use of the Internet means that your internal IT and e-commerce systems are potentially accessible by anyone, irrespective of their location.
Risks :
Some of the more common threats that hackers pose to e-commerce systems include:
- carrying out denial-of-service (DoS) attacks that stop access to authorized users of a website, so that the site is forced to offer a reduced level of service or, in some cases, ceases operation completely
- gaining access to sensitive data such as price lists, catalog's and valuable intellectual property, and altering, destroying or copying it
- altering your website, thereby damaging your image or directing your customers to another site
- gaining access to financial information about your business or your customers, with a view to perpetrating fraud
- using viruses to corrupt your business data
Impact upon the business :
All of these risks can have a significant impact upon a business running an e-commerce service. The potential business implications of a security incident include the following:
- Direct financial loss as a consequence of fraud or litigation.
- Subsequent loss as a result of unwelcome publicity.
- Criminal charges if you are found to be in breach of the Data Protection or Computer Misuse Acts, or other regulation on e-commerce.
- Loss of market share if customer confidence is affected by a DoS attack.
- The image presented by your business, together with the brands under which you trade, are valuable assets. It is important to recognize that the use of e-commerce creates new ways for both image and brands to be attacked.
Security & Privacy:
- Have a Spam free, Popup free ecommerce storefront.
- Secure all transactions with latest SSL security standards.
- Host your store in a secure hosting environment.
- Display a disclaimer during the checkout process and respect the privacy of the visitor.
- Keep a constant watch on the changes in Internet security environment and periodically test your store for safeguards against any security threats.
You must also consider the speed and accuracy of various processes that go in managing because should be powerful and at the same time stable. There are many other issues like legal laws, state economic barriers and governmental provisions that also needs to be accepted. Since Ecommerce is not limited to geographical boundaries, you should always be cautious that you do not over-step any legal and economic restrictions.
posted by cLawdz at 12:06 AM
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