Development of Internet for Communicating and Doing Business - Assignment Example

An Introduction to Information Communication & Technology – ICT The Internet has paved the way to the computerized era. Since its introduction the internet has grown from a method of communicating to loved ones or colleagues in far distant places, it has grown and is now being used as a method of doing business. It gave small and big companies alike to show their products and innovations in a variety of ways. There has been report’s from around the world that there are some individuals who are talented enough to attack and gather information and even send out deadly viruses to earn a profit. During the early years of the internet it was a haven for these individuals but technology has grown since then and so as the law which would protect businesses who uses the internet. Legislations where put in place together with the growth of technology. Nowadays the software is combined with hardware that has security embedded which also uses a third party Assurance seals to protect sensitive data and to control and make the consumer’s aware if the site they are accessing and giving personal information is legitimate and protected. A survey was focused on what levels currently exist in consumers' awareness of web privacy seals and consumers' perceived importance of the seal that can be found on business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce websites. This would demonstrate that consumer needs to learn or be educated in order for them to be aware on the existence of such seals and that they would be ensured of protection against threats once they know of the existence of these seals on e-Commerce websites. By educating consumers that there exists a system to reduce the probability against attacks, educating these customers regarding the Web Assurance Seal Services and making them aware of the perceived importance on web assurance seals, consumers might start using the E-Commerce websites in doing their shopping and banking. There is a need also to include the role of web assurance seals does increase awareness and perceived importance the seals. However, it is of importance to note that customers still are unlikely to adapt using these seals as an indicator of the trustworthiness of site. Systems Analysis and Development The Internet and the World Wide Web have efficiently expanded opportunities for companies to form communication with their customers. Since the start of the 1990s, a lot of commercial Web sites started to publish their products online and up to this date it continues to climb each year. Those Web sites has a lot to offer and their benefits to the companies that created them have flourished. For example, they showed a different and cost-effective way to advertise / sell products to a global market. Internet users got the most benefit from these commercial Web sites that offer 24 hour shopping convenience, it gave prospecting customers a lot of options, one that didn’t give consumers’ any limitations. With this technology customers can look for specific brands and can look at price comparisons. Most importantly, the Internet gave customers around the world the capability to inter act or do a two-way information exchange which increases opportunity for buyers and sellers alike and can even come up with an arrangement. Web sites contain a lot of free information that customers can easily access so that they can decide as to what products or services they would purchase. It would also provide online vendors by listing their contact information or answers to Frequently Asked Questions. As an example of data gathering, Operating systems are configured automatically in such a way and as a default it uses data-gathering techniques such as "cookies" or site registration. In order for e-commerce to work, both parties (online companies and Internet consumers) should trust each other as well as provide pertinent data and information. But customers are more at risk to attacks since their information is more critical. Their Personal information such as name, address, and credit card number are necessary for online purchase transactions. Web site customization and personalization. But not all customers are willing to give up this information, which causes many to shying away from electronic commerce as a result. A very recent opinion poll of Internet users reflects the veracity of the public's concern over online privacy. Most frequently cited concerns include unknown parties getting personal information and it also paves a way for internet hackers to steal credit card information and all of these events happen during business transactions that are taking place on the Web. In the United States alone the public's fears are well supported by the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center which recorded 48,252 complaints to law enforcement or regulatory agencies in 2002 alone. The total dollar loss from online fraud was estimated to be $54 million. According to recent reports this problem appears to be worsening each year. Since 1998 there have been increased reports on internet fraud statistics as documented by the National Consumer League's in their annual report. This is also a major concern with the British Computer Society and we have learned from the mistakes of those companies that emerged in the past that didn’t have security in place and the technology to support them. In line with this, there are a lot of commercial Web sites that do not offer Internet users much privacy.. They do not even offer a reason for collecting persolnal information. In 2000, FTC reported and found out that fewer than 20% of Websites posted a comprehensive privacy policy. It is not a surprise that majority of Internet users are very reluctant to disclose personal information online. Having these data, a question was raised on how important it is to engage in e-commerce and how to improve communication with customers. These are the factors that influence consumers in disclosing personal data and information. There were several variables that were suggested by researching in communication, marketing, and psychology. An example would be, trust, with regards for the company, perceived privacy protection, general privacy concern, and past Internet experience have been shown to be important factors in both commercial and online exchange. There have been prior theories and researches done, and uses a model of how these variables affect information disclosure on the Internet. Recommendation In line with the requirement and the need for the company to have an On-Line Payment Systems the network and software’s currently being used should be accessed and restructured. Security is the key for this project to be successful and security has its levels or types. A combination of new software security technology and a state of the art network design would ensure that students would be protected if they use the school’s On-Line payment system. The system can be introduced via intranet or locally within the school but there’s not much risk if the payment system would be on the internet, especially if parents are the one’s paying for the tuition fees. There are three main areas. Firstly, security - phishing is mostly done via email and it involves HTML so W3C will address this issue. Secondly, the Mobile Web Initiative is important - information must be made seamlessly available on any device. And finally, Web services, where re-engineering and enterprise software are key issues. Policy Based Network Management PBNM is a condition - action response mechanism to provide an automatic response to conditions in the network according to pre-defined policies and an abstraction/ translation mechanism Define goals not device configurations Changes in policy lead to changes in goals not implementations Deny internet access during business hours, or allow access only for a certain amount of time, or allow/deny certain websites Allow specified group of users access to specified data directories on network, or certain services on network Allow priority use of network services for selected users/groups of users Allocate percentage of bandwidth to particular application Run local virus checking on every client every minutes Virus check any transfer from floppy disk drive to hard drive Automating reactions which can be predefined if we already know what actions should be taken when an event or series of event happens reduces likelihood of human error & speeds up reaction time configuring large number of devices (e.g. PCs on network) with common policy Translation of high level policy into low level device specific configurations de-skills the task allows changes in policy without changing implementations matching organizational policy with enforcement technologies Interface The web interface or design also plays an important role so that this project would be successful. The website should use Third party seals to show its authenticity which should be combined with a well structured database that would follow the policy based access to the database. The types of access can only be handled or updated by network administrators to make sure there are no flaws to the system and a focal point for any issues that may arise. References Ackerman, M.S., Cranor, L.F. and Reagle, J. (1999), “Privacy in e-commerce: Examining user scenarios and privacy preferences”, ACM. Bateson, J.E.G. and Hui, M.K. (1992), “The ecological validity of photographic slides and videotapes in simulating the service setting”, Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 19 no.2, pp.271-282. Bigley, G.A. and Pearce, J.L. (1998), “Straining for shared meaning in organization science: Problems of trust and distrust”, Academy of Management Review, vol. 23, no 3, pp. 405-421. Boatright, J. R. (2000), “Ethics and the conduct of business”, Prentice Hall, 3rd ed., p. 403. 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Wang, H., Lee, M.K.O. and Wang, C. “Consumer Privacy Concerns about Internet Marketing,” Comm. ACM, vol. 41, no. 3, Mar. 1998, pp. 63–70. Read More