E-Commerce Challenges and Solutions - Research Paper Example

?E-Commerce Challenges and Solutions Table of Contents E-Commerce Challenges and Solutions Table of Contents 2 Introduction 4 Cutting Edge Technology of E-Commerce 5 Ethical Challenges of E-Commerce 6 Privacy Issue 6 Computer Crimes 6 Hacking 7 Cyber Theft 7 Computer Viruses 8 Other Ethical Challenges 8 Employment Challenges 8 Computer Monitoring 9 Challenges to Individuality 9 Problem Regarding Information Security 10 Problem Encountered in E–Commerce 11 Hacking Problem in E-Commerce 11 Virus and Worm Problem in E–Commerce 12 Privacy Problem in E–Commerce 12 Phishing Problem in E–Commerce 13 Fraudulent Problem in E–Commerce 13 Impact on Business and Consumer 14 Solution of E–Commerce Problems 15 Conclusion 18 References 19 Bibliography 21 Introduction E–Commerce has been the revolution in the business activities such as buying and selling of products and services. E–Commerce is referred to the trade and business without any paper, but through e-mail, ‘electronic data exchange’, ‘electronic fund transfer’, ‘electronic bulletin board’ and other networking technologies. E–Commerce has changed the system of buying and selling of the products and services. E-Commerce helps the system of traditional business by new ways of transferring information and processing them. Internet boosts the e–commerce system because of its low cost (Bajaj & Et. Al., 2005). Cutting Edge Technology of E-Commerce E-Commerce is the cutting edge for today’s business. It is a modern business style and method which deals with the needs of organizations and consumers. E-Commerce helps to reduce the costs, develop the quality of goods and raise the speed of delivery. It is related with buying or selling products and information through internet. Nowadays, organizations and business institutions want the flexibility for changing business partners, platform and network at their will. Organizations want to form unique business strategy which includes creating a personal electronic communication to customers, suppliers, distributors and competitors for upgrading the effectiveness of their business communication. It will lead the organizations to increase market share, maintain long term viability in today’s aggressive business condition. It will help to exchange valuable information to customers constantly. E-Commerce enables business organizations to exchange valuable information related to business and their offerings among their continuously varying sets of consumers. E-Commerce offers organizations opportunity to perform online business activities as well as utilize it as an integrated marketing with promotional tool in order to increase the sales. E-Commerce provides an option of efficient processing of orders from consumers. E-commerce as a powerful business tool has an insurmountable importance and organizations on a worldwide basis have started to recognize its significance as a cutting edge technology (eCommerceProgram, 2007). Ethical Challenges of E-Commerce There are certain ethical issues regarding internet marketing and E-Commerce, which are described below: Privacy Issue Business organizations using E-Commerce should keep in mind that the customer’s personal information must be safe. This will help to build the trust of the customer in the field of safety and security of e-business and also to maintain the honesty of the organization (Botha, 2004). The ‘power of information technology’ to store as well as retrieve information often has harmful effect on the privacy of consumers. Several companies at times monitor the confidential emails of employees. Every time a person visits ‘World Wide Web’ the personal information about that person may be stored by the use of ‘Cookie’. At times several secret information of government bureaus, credit organizations or private business organizations are misused which can result in invasion of privacy or fraud. Computer Crimes Internet is an easy tool for committing crimes. Any person can commit crime by using the tools of internet. It is a growing threat to e-business. A few people are taking advantage of widespread use of e–business as well as internet. E-Commerce crime is a serious threat to the safety and security of a business system. Every organization should develop an advance security system for preventing this type of crime. The various issues of computer crimes are: Hacking Hacking is unauthorized access and use of private and confidential data. Usually hackers assault the internet to steal or spoil information and important programs. They can access personal e- mails, transfer file, extract password or set harmful program that can cause damage of important data. Various hacking tactics are spoofing, war dialing, malicious applets, sniffer, Trojan horse, logic bomb, buffer overflow and others (Sachenko, 2010). Cyber Theft Cyber theft can be of several types. Stealing of money from one’s account can be regarded as a major cyber theft. Illegal access of computer information is known as ‘time and resource theft’. There are also other kinds of theft such as illegal access of company network, personal consulting or private finance. The software programs also at times steal from computer system because it is a valuable property of any organization. Illegal software copying is also a kind of theft because software is an asset and it is protected by copyright law and licensing agreement (Sachenko, 2010). Computer Viruses The introduction of virus or worms is a major example of computer offense. These viruses illegally enter in any computer system through other network system. Normally, a typical virus copy itself into the hard disk or that of operating system (Sachenko, 2010). Other Ethical Challenges Besides these there are other ethical challenges of E-Commerce which are as follows: Employment Challenges There is a great impact of information technology on employment. The use of information technology and computers facilitate to achieve automation of work activities. E–Commerce has created numerous employment opportunities and also increases productivity. But in certain places it also reduces the employment opportunity. IT has reduced certain repetitive or boring tasks in office or firm which was formerly performed by people (Sachenko, 2010). Computer Monitoring Another ethical challenge of E-Commerce is computer monitoring. Computer is used for observing the productivity and performance of workers on their working time. This is done for gathering the data regarding productivity of the workers and to increase their efficiency and service quality. The computer monitoring has criticized that it is violation of the privacy of workers and freedom because in many cases they are not informed that they are being observed and don’t know how the information will be used against them. The worker’s right may be harmed if the information is used for personal decision making. This type of system of monitoring would cause stress because of continuous surveillance and thus can lead to health problems among the employees (Sachenko, 2010). Challenges to Individuality A frequent ethical issue of e-commerce system has harmful impact on the ‘individuality of people’. It is said that computer reduces the human relationship which is present in ‘non computer’ system. Certain system requires strict adherence to certain detailed procedures (Sachenko, 2010). Problem Regarding Information Security Security of information refers that important information should be stored safely and only the legal owner or authorized person can use the information when needed. Information security can be harmed by ‘cracking’ or ‘page jacking’ which is also known as hacking. Hacking is a kind of assault in computer networking system. It endangers the safety, honesty and confidentiality of information. Previously hacking was not considered to be a criminal offence, it was just a kind of ‘joke’ to any computer by ‘cracking’ the secret password. Many times hacker ‘hijack’ a website which can be termed as ‘page jacking’ and modify the data of that website. There are three types of hackers: 1. Theft of Information: This type of hacker normally targets the government computer system. They can also enter into airline or railway or hotel booking system for stealing information about credit cards. They can steal personal properties such as business confidential information, computer software. Finally, this kind of hackers commits ‘cyber harassment’ such as using any person’s secret information just for their entertainment. The computers of bank or mobile service which stores telephone number, credit card information are nowadays unsafe (Sison & Fontrodona, 2005). 2. Stealing of Services: Few professional hackers enter illegally into any organization’s computer system and control their operations. They enjoy services without paying any charge for it and also sell the service to other persons. They hack telephoning system and make calls without any charge. They can obtain the PIN code for ATM or credit cards holders and enjoy free services (Sison & Fontrodona, 2005). 3. Denial of Service (DOS): By ‘denial of service’ technique, hackers can destroy a computer system or networking system. They send a vast amount of e-mails in a computer system and such bulk messages cause overload. All they have to do is to put a small program in different computers of ISP (Internet Service Providers). This technique is called ‘mail-bombing’. This technique is used against online shopping sites such as e-Bay, Amazon and others. Several companies have permitted their workers to access central databases from outside their office which in turn helps the hacker indirectly to access their computer system and use the information. Further the introduction of wireless internet access makes easier for doing their illegal activities (Sison & Fontrodona, 2005). Problem Encountered in E–Commerce Hacking Problem in E-Commerce Hacking is the most common problem in E-Commerce. ‘IPO.com’, which is a news corporation, publishes news stocks in the New York Stock Exchange. ‘Hirschorn’ is one of the IPO.com’s rivals and works in ‘Wall Street Source’. In the year 1999 ‘Hirschorn’ was dismissed by ‘Wall Street Source’ for an illegal act and he started working in the rival company i.e. ‘IPO.com’. Hirschorn purposely used the password which he used in his previous company ‘Wall Street Source’ and hacked their system and deleted the valuable data and resources from the company’s website. The result was that ‘Wall Street Source’ had to restore the full security system again. In the year 2000 Wall Street sued about 100,000 Dollar against their former employee Hirschorn and also the company i.e. IPO.com for hacking their valuable information and 5 million Dollar for corrective damages (Sison & Fontrodona, 2005). Virus and Worm Problem in E–Commerce The networking system and e-commerce also suffered by various viruses and worms. According to Markoff a worm named ‘Melissa’ had cost 80 million Dollar loss by means of data, business opportunity, time and also effort. In the year 2000 ‘I Love You’ virus had caused 10 billion Dollar damage globally (Sison & Fontrodona, 2005). Privacy Problem in E–Commerce Online advertising company can target the visitors by ‘cookies’. It is a small text file which is installed by company when someone visits their website. This helps the ad company to build a profile of each person and can hack the information about the person. For example in the year 2000, ‘Double Click’, an ad company created a message which were aimed to attract customers and with the help of ‘Cookies’, the company kept tracks about their activities. They watched about 100 million people’s personal profiles. In the year 1999 ‘Double Click’ company rewarded 1.7 billion Dollars to the ‘Abacus Direct Corp’ for the information about customers. ‘Abacus Direct’ is a ‘data warehouse’ organization which keeps information about customers regarding their name, address what they purchases and others. As a result ‘Double Click’ company was able to know about customers’ information such as their whereabouts and their phone numbers. For this illegal act, ‘Double Click’ organization had been sued by one of the citizens of California, ‘Harriet Judnic’ (Businessweek, 2000). Phishing Problem in E–Commerce Phishing is an inexhaustible form of spam. It is used for consumer and business identity theft. In phishing technique first the target organization is identified and then more information about that organization such as their bank account, online payment system is stolen. In the year 2005 almost 15,820 reports of phishing had been found compared to 6,957 in 2004. According to ‘Anti–Phishing Working Group’ in the year 2006 approximately 188 Trojan spywares had been deployed for phishing i.e. 234 percent increase than the year 2005 (Trend Micro Inc, 2006). Fraudulent Problem in E–Commerce In internet, a fake rumor can spread rapidly. For example, in the year 1999 news appeared in Bloomberg that one Israeli organization was buying ‘U.S. telecommunication’ tool named ‘Pairgain’. As a result, the per share price of that tool ‘Pairgain’ rose up from 8.50 Dollar to 11.13 Dollar. Everyone thought that it was a big opportunity for making profit. But the news was actually fabricated by few hackers (Sison & Fontrodona, 2005). Impact on Business and Consumer 1. Interruption of services: Many business organizations face troubles in services for service problems in e-commerce. In the year 1999 the online buying companies such as Amazon, Yahoo, e–bay, CNN and their services have been disrupted because of DOS attacks. These sites could not be accessed by the customers for more than 4 hours. This attack caused loss of millions of Dollars in these business organizations. It was difficult and problematic for consumers (Raggo, 2002). 2. Bad Reputation: There are several organizations who do not want to risk their reputation and thus they are not able to report any security infringements. If a hacker steals any credit card information of a customer from a reputed website, then it can harm the reputation of that organization. In the year 2000, a Russian hacker hacked approximately 25000 credit card numbers from a business organization named ‘CDUniverse.com’. The hacker wanted to steal money from that organization. This incident damaged the reputation of that company and they are unable to conduct business anymore (Raggo, 2002). 3. Reveal Confidential Information: Nowadays the attacks have become more advanced. Hacker can break in any computer system and reveal important and secret information such as business records, consumer data, credit or ATM card numbers. In the year 2002, a worker of ‘Global Crossing’ company was imprisoned for revealing other worker’s security number and date of birth on the internet (Raggo, 2002). 4. Data Interchange: A hacker can break through any stock market’s website and change the stock prices of various companies. This kind of act can mislead the consumer with false information about stock price of any company’s share (Raggo, 2002). 5. Impact of phishing: Phishing has caused substantial money losses, brand reputation and identity theft. In the year 2004 international financial institutions had encountered losses of approximately 400 million Dollars for phishing activities. The UK’s E-businesses faced a loss of ?12.2 million in the year 2004 and in 2005 it became double, i.e. ?23.2 million (Trend Micro Inc, 2006). Solution of E–Commerce Problems Not a single company whose business is related with internet is 100 percent secure. The hacker can enter in any computer network with the help of their various tactics. These types of attack harm the e–business and the consumers of e–business. Study shows that programs created by black hat hackers created losses of around 700 million Dollars in the year 2001. The better way for any company to prevent these types of problem is to implement a preventive maintenance (Angelfire, 2011). First, a company which is engaged in e–business must make certain that all internet activities are running through a good firewall. It is used as software to avert unauthorized or illegal access to confidential information in the organization’s central network. Firewall systems check all the data which are coming and going through network. It determines that if the data have the right to pass through the organization’s network or not (Angelfire, 2011). Organizations should buy good antivirus software and its virus definition file must be updated regularly. Antivirus software is imperative for reducing virus attacks in computer system. It provides organizations better and superior flexibility (Botha, 2004). E–Business organizations must claim that their site is secure. The organization must register their site with vendor who sells digital certificates. These digital certificates verify that the organization’s site is secure (Botha, 2004). The network log should be checked in daily basis. It can detect any illegal activity such as whether any hacker is trying to enter the networking system. The company should check these networks log, one or two times a day. It can prevent the hacking problem before it occurs. It helps to monitor the worker’s activity also which can enhance the safety and security of network (Angelfire, 2011). Another step of maintaining company’s internal network is to uphold a tough security on every worker’s password and internet. There should be various control measures for using the internet. Various corporations ignore this system. If there is no control in visiting websites then any employee can unknowingly help to let in a hacker or virus in organization’s networking system. Company should identify the disloyal employee of any company who purposely tries to break through organization’s unauthorized material and want to steal or misuse them (Angelfire, 2011). No website is hundred percent safe. If a company’s website is somehow hacked by a certain person, then the first thing to do is to disconnect the host computer and try to examine the intruder. The company should immediately back up all the important information needed. By examining the intruder’s action, it helps the organization to study and improve their own system and act against the intruder (Angelfire, 2011). Organization must keep patches up to date. It will help prevent the buffer flow activity of hackers. Company can visit the vendor’s site for latest upgradation and also need to keep latest news about any vulnerability. For preventing any vulnerability act every database application must be protected with strong password. Weak password is of no use. A password must be created with upper and lower case, number and symbols and should be minimum 6 characters (Raggo, 2002). Company also must secure the physical access to computer. When no one is using a particular computer then it should be locked or it will allow hacker to instantly access the network of organization as the original user of the computer (Raggo, 2002). Conclusion The use of internet as well as e–commerce in businesses is growing everyday. Thus, the hackers’ opportunities are also growing to spoil their businesses. A lot of money is required to implement a tight and tough security of company’s network. Every organization should spend enough capital to prevent these hackers from extracting valuable information from the organizations. Hacker’s action has created negative impact in e-commerce by several ways. A good preventive measure will help to return the trust of the consumers for purchasing from any company’s website and they will feel safe to access the company’s site any time. References Angelfire, (2011). Hackers/ Crackers and Their Effects on E-Commerce. Koolest. Retrieved Online on March 01, 2011 from http://www.angelfire.com/tn/koolest/Hackers.pdf Botha, J., (2004). Managing E – Commerce. Juta and Company Ltd. Businessweek, (2000). Privacy: Outrage on the Web. News: Analysis & Commentary. Retrieved Online on March 01, 2011 from http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_07/b3668065.htm Bajaj, K. & Et. Al., (2005). E – Commerce: The Cutting Edge of Business. Tata McGraw-Hill. eCommerceProgram, (2007). Electronic Commerce. Your Information Superhighway. Retrieved Online on March 01, 2011 from http://www.ecommerceprogram.com/ Raggo, M. T., (2002). Hacking and Network Defense. Verisign. Retrieved Online on March 01, 2011 from http://www.spy-hunter.com/Hacking_Brief.pdf Sison, A. J. & Fontrodona, J., (2005). Ethical Aspects of E – Commerce. University of Navarra. Retrieved Online on March 01, 2011 from http://www.iese.edu/research/pdfs/DI-0586-E.pdf Sachenko, A., (2010). Security and Ethical Challenges. Scribd. Retrieved Online on March 01, 2011 from http://www.scribd.com/doc/396851/Security-and-Ethical-Challenges Trend Micro Inc, (2006). Phishing. Best Practices Series. Retrieved Online on March 01, 2011 from http://www.antiphishing.org/sponsors_technical_papers/trendMicro_Phishing.pdf Bibliography Reynold, J., (2004). The Complete E-Commerce Book: Design, Build & Maintain A Successful Web-Based Business. Focal Press. Read More