Threats to E-Commerce - Assignment Example

Survey of is theory Survey of is theory 1 Knowledge Worker Information is generated by certain activities especially specific groups of people or the knowledge workers. A knowledge worker is one that is adept at the performance of tasks that require people to transcribe data and information in order to suit a certain specified and predetermined purpose. A knowledge worker is an individual that as a fundamental part and parcel of his job attempts the creation, modification or the synthesis of knowledge and knowledge based systems. The rise of the knowledge worker was first predicted by Peter Drucker, in the shape of an importance to IT and information. He explained the fact that the evolution of society and social systems would demand that education be made a cornerstone for society Information Technology and Information Systems Information systems and information technology are two separate terms that have often been used interchangeably. The essential parts of an information system is made up of five basic rudiments. These are the hardware. The software, the data, people involved in the process of information transmission and the telecommunications networks that people build so that they can collect and use data that is required for the conduct of the information systems. The core component of an information system is the computer itself. Information technology on the other hand is the study, usage and implementation of the knowledge of information systems through the development of the design. This would therefore entail the support needed for the development of the information system, and a management of these systems that are in essence computer based. The IT systems deal particularly with the relevance of software and hardware applications. Data, Knowledge, Wisdom, and Information Data is in essence raw material that has no meaning when left on its own devices. It is the kind of matter that is drawn for research work and until and unless it is deciphered and placed in context it would hold no significance for any of the interested parties. Information on the other hand is the data collected in the primary stages if the work commencement and then deciphered by the knowledge worker, placed in context to be mean relevant matter. Knowledge is a requirement that the user of the information must have so that the relationship between the various pieces of the information could be construed and placed in context while wisdom is accrual of this knowledge over a period of time so that the user is allowed to apply the concepts and experience from one area to another. The difference between the four is important so that the applications to the understanding of information systems could be made in a better manner. Business Intelligence Business intelligence consists of social, communication and management skills. It can in essence be understood as the process wherein information is gathered from a number of business related processes for the improvement of the skills in organizational decision making. This would therefore mean that a businessman that would be said to have business intelligence would be adept at the task of integrating processes and information from the internal and the external stream of the organization, The relationship between business intelligence and the level of success achieved by a business by its implementation for gathering competitive advantage is that an organization that could adapt to factors affecting business achieve greater success than others. For example, ones that understood the fact that outsourcing would be a factor of competitive advantage, made use of it showing greater business intelligence than the ones that chose to do it later. Autonomic Computing Autonomic Computing are systems that systems that are built on the principles of self management. The term autonomic itself owes its origin to the central nervous system. This would therefore mean in essence that these systems need the very minimum levels of human intervention for their operation. These systems are able to configure on their own, they can optimize their help features, in case of system crisis they can have the role of self recuperation and finally these systems are able to protect themselves. One of the netter known autonomic computing systems is associated with the IBM name that was started in 2001 with the goal of the ultimate development of a computing system that was capable of absolute self management. Outsourcing Outsourcing is a process whereby, a company or a commercial venture usually located in a first world country enters into a contract with another company usually located in the third world. The contract is formed so that some portion of work that would originally have been performed by the in-house staff is now carried out by others i.e. members of the company to which work is being outsourced. In most cases the services being outsourced include call center and consumer services, organization mailing lists and execution of e-mails, and the payroll department. These jobs are handled by separate companies that specialize in each service, and are often located overseas. Videoconferencing-Essentials Videoconferencing is one the greatest boons of technologies in an age where the average business has have an international presence in order to taste a semblance of success. Owen, (2005) states that the basic tool kit for setting up an international videoconferencing facility is a camera, a video display, desktop and a compact processor, microphones and speakers. All of these are absolute essentials given the fact that in the absence of even one of the above mentioned a video conferencing process cannot be completed. Added to these could be headphones, multi point processing and a larger display screen. The larger the screen the better would be the quality of the conferencing system. Click and Mortar/ Click Only A click and Mortar company is one that operates both online and offline or physical operations while a click only company is one that operates and sells its products only through the medium of the cyber world. A company with a click and mortar model of business operation would usually have the upper hand given the fact that it has the advantage of offering its consumers the profits of quick online service for the new techno savvy crowd as well as the more traditional face to face model of service for the ones believing in the older model. Examples of click and mortar operations would be Barnes and Nobles and Marks and Spencer while examples of click only models would be international job portals like Monster.com and Amazon.com would be oipeartions that just have an online presence. Revenue Model/Business Model A revenue model encapsulates descriptions about how a given venture would earn revenue and move toward the process of profit generation thereby coming up with superior returns on investment. A revenue model is in essence a business model with a clear focus on the various segments of the business that would ultimately result in revenue generation for the venture. The model stays focused on a niche or target audience, has a clear outline of the venture development plans, begins with a line of credit generation. The value proposition and market strategy are components of the business plan. The basic idea therefore is that no business model can be complete without a detailed revenue model. A plan for a boutique for example would hold no meaning until the sales strategy and the target audience are outlined-integrating the revenue and the business models. Threats to E-Commerce Few of the biggest threats to E-Commerce now emerge from the policy-making spectrum in the international arena. Heretofore the world of the internet has been left unregulated and unchecked by policy constraints. But as the world comes to grips with the expanding impact of the internet and the immense financial gains and losses to be made on the cyber world, there are attempts at regulation that have been instituted by countries the world over. The Spam Act is just one in a series of regulatory legislations that seek to place a capex on the kind of economic and professional activity that takes place over the internet. Matulis, (1999) states that another big threat that emerges is that of jurisdiction and censoring over the internet. Finally, one of the biggest problems that e-commerce would have to grapple with in the foreseeable future is that of single market rules whereby the reach of an internet based venture would have to undergo issues of duties and imports and exports. Reverse Auction/ Forward Auction A reverse auction is also known in the world of e-commerce as a procurement auction or a sourcing event. It is in marked contrast to an ordinary auction. The point in an e-auction to drive down the value of the product on sale so that it can be acquired at the lowest possible costs. It is a tool that is employed mostly in cases where the idea is to ensure that there is a procurement of one business by another one. A reverse auction is opposed to an ordinary auction in as much as the fact that the roles of the buyer and seller are reversed in this case. In an ordinary auction or a forward auction the basic idea is for the buyers to contend for getting a product or a service. They try to outbid each other thereby driving up the price. Threats to information system There are a number of threats that could affect an information system. The primary threats to an information system security would be that from unauthorized access. This could again have a number of manifestations like accidents and natural disasters. These are usually outside the control of the management personnel. Threats could also take the shape of an employee or a consultant within the company who try to take undue advantage. The third real threat is breach by an outside source like a competitor trying to gain access to confidential data. This could in fact happen when while data is traveling between or among business affiliates. Outside forces like hackers and crackers are also a threat. Hackers are mostly harmless trying to gain some fun by pushing the envelope of the system, the crackers are the real problem as they break into a system for profit making a breach on a more conscious level. Risk analysis and its importance Risk analysis is an important part in any given information systems security programme given the fact that it is during the conduction of the risks analysis process that the value of the assets to be protected and the risks and costs that are involved in their protection can be identified. The process of risk analysis, is an essential because, it would therefore help in the justification of the costs that would be incurred in the protection of data and te information systems. A risk analysis and review process would also mean that the system accepts the fact that there is infact a risk. In most cases where a risk assessment system has not been institutionalized there is no implementation of protection and hence a cause for damage in future. Technological and Human Safeguards to IS There are five basic technological safeguards. These include: 1. Physical access restriction methods like a lock on the door 2. Authentication techniques like biometrics, access control software, wireless LAN control or WLAN, and Virtual Private Networks (VPN) 3. Firewalls such as packet filters, application level controls, circuit level controls, proxy servers and firewall architectures 4. Finally there is the encryption method wherein authentication techniques, privacy, integrity, nonrepudiation can be employed. Technological protection could also take the shape of virus monitoring, audit control softwares, CCTVs and backups. Human safeguards on the other hand would mean a proper training and employment programmes for employees that seeks to tell them about the acceptable and unacceptable computer behavior. There should also be a clear demarcation of the punishment and the sanctions for misuse. Online and batch processing The process by which transactions are collected and processed together is known as online and batch advertising. In batch processing transactions are collected together for processing as a batch. Online processing provides immediate results to the operator and customer. Manual data entry occurs when data is entered into the TPS by hand. Semiautomatic data entry systems allow for data capture by devices, and fully automated data entries have no human intervention Models’ used in Decision Support systems architectures A decisions support system works on the basic hypothesis of ‘what if’. This allows the system worker to hypothetical changes data within a problem equation and analyse the results of this implementation. DSS processing supports the merging of data with models so that alternative solutions can be examined. Data in essence comes from numerous sources, the organization of this data so that it could be easily accessed and interpreted forms the bulk of DSS model work. The best known model of DSS is the expert systems that entail process using interfacing, matching of responses with the rules and usage of reasoning methods based on knowledge about a specific problem. Data Mining and Visualization- Importance Data mining is a technique used to discover and possibly explain hidden relationships in data. Data mining is important given the fact that it helps in the identification of understandable patterns and trends thereby helping business action based on sound knowledge and information backed the insight. For example by understanding the background of website usage patterns the web site could be personalized and hence improved. Moreover, data mining and visualization help in the prediction of next reactions from target audiences. There are models that could be tailored to predict based on input data. Knowledge Management Systems A system that is dedicated to the management of knowledge has its central aim as the improvement of organizational performances and thereby contribute to a aggressive industry advantage. It is made up of a variety of processes that attempt the identification, creation and representation of a better way of thinking within the organization through a more able management of its available databases. Knowledge management systems target not just machines but the available human resources within the organization as well. Thereby providing an impetus to innovation and the sharing of lessons learned. Furthermore, knowledge management systems can be developed on universally available software at low cost to the organization. Technologies can include organizational yellow pages, like Lotus Notes, and more recently communities like matrixed organizations. Enterprise Systems and their evolution An Enterprise Information System a in essence a computing system that consists of service capability of a high excellence. The system has a capacity to deal with large quantities of data collection and manipulation and is used in most large organizations that function on an international scale. The idea is in essence to provide a system that would lead to a better coordination and management of the organization and its related database. The evolution of enterprise systems needs to be understood in line with the evolution of large corporations with larger database needs and requirements. An enterprise would therefore be a wide variety system that attempts the integration of applications across the organization. Reference: Owen F, 2005, Video Conferencing - The Essential Ingredients, accessed September 23, 2009, Click and Mortar, accessed September 23, 2009, Grant E, Busines, revenue Models, accessed September 23, 2009, < http://www.business.com/guides/defining-a-revenue-model-for-your-business-911/> Myers, Elissa Matulis, 1999, Self-regulation Key to e-retail Legitimacy, pub, Brandweek, Vol.40 No.16, pp40-42 Jessup, L & Valacich, J 2007, Information systems today: managing in the digital world, 3rd edn, Prentice Hall I&T, Englewood Cliffs Read More