J.S.S.Y's E-Commerce World

Embark on our e-commerce world and enjoy your learning process...


What is E-Government?
Definitions of e-government is “the use of information technology to free movement of information to overcome the physical bounds of traditional paper and physical based systems” to “the use of technology to enhance the access to and delivery of government services to benefit citizens, business partners and employees.” E-government involves the automation or computerization of existing paper-based procedures that will prompt new styles of leadership, new ways of debating and deciding strategies, new ways of transacting business, new ways of listening to citizens and communities, and new ways of organizing and delivering information.

E-government aims to enhance access to and delivery of government services to benefit citizens. More important, it aims to help strengthen government’s drive toward effective governance and increased transparency to better manage a country’s social and economic resources for development.

There are four types of E-government services:
  • Government-to-Citizen (G2C) - online non-commercial interaction between local and central Government and private individuals.
  • Government-to-Business (G2B) - online non-commercial interaction between local and central government and the commercial business sector.
  • Government-to-employee (G2E) - online non-commercial interaction between local and government and the employees.
  • Government-to-employee (G2G) - online non-commercial interaction between Government organisations, departments, and authorities and other Government organisations, departments, and authorities.

Implemetation Of E-Government
Most e-government project implementations are currently in progress. Here are some major e-government projects:

Generic Office Enviroment (GEO) is to introduce a fully integrated, distributed and scalable office environment that uses the multimedia information technology.The GEO project consist of Enterprise-Wide Information Management System (EIMS) module which provides a universal interface for users to manage, find, retrieve and compose the information they need in their day to day operation.

Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) provides single interface for government employees to perform human resource functions effectively and efficiently. Furthermore, it helps to standardize all human resource processes for federal state, statutory bodies and local authority services. This system also provides transactional functions such as leave application, loan processing and selection of employees.

Project Monitoring System (PMS) is one of r-government project. It creates a mechanism to monitor project implementation throughout various government agencies and statutory bodies. This system is designed to monitor the implementation of the government projects and serves as a platform for exchanging ideas and demonstrating best practices model in information management and communication services.

Electronic Service Directory (eServices) is a project that allows citizens of Malaysia to engage in transactions with government and utilities payments such as telephone and electricity bills and police summons. These services can be assessed through multi channel service delivery such as internet and kiosk machines.

Electronic Labor Exchange (ELX) is to improve mobilisation of human resource and optimize work force utilization through systematic matching of job seekers to job opportunities. This would enable Ministry of Human Resource (MOHR) to be one stop centre for labor market information that will be accessible to the public.


Citizen Adoption Strategies

Awareness
Government can launch various programmes, or even create attractive advertisements to educate the public about e-government projects and the services that are available online. By carrying out all these activities, the citizens will be enthusiastic about the usage of e-government portals.

Compatibility
Innovation and application used must be compatible with the citizen's needs, experience and values. When the e-government portals are easy to use and compatible to its users, public are enabled to interact with the government or businesses without physically doing it. This saves a lot of time, especially the queuing time .

Accuracy and security of information
The government must make sure that information provided to the citizens must be accurate, relevant and timely. In addition, the technology and security measures that supports the services must be advanced to protect citizens' personal data.


Reference links:
http://www.intanbk.intan.my/psimr/articles/Article1%20-%20Full.pdf










Credit card debt is an example of unsecured consumer debt, accessed through credit cards. Debt results when a client of a credit card company purchases an item or service through the card system. Debt accumulates and increases via interest and penalties when the consumer does not pay the company for the money he or she has spent. The results of not paying this debt on time are that the company will charge a late payment penalty and report the late payment to credit rating agencies. Being late on a payment is sometimes referred to as being in "default". The late payment penalty itself increases the amount of debt the consumer has. When a consumer has been late on a payment, it is possible that other creditors, even creditors the consumer was not late in paying, may increase the interest rates the consumer is paying. This practice is called universal default.

Well, what are the causes of Credit Card debts? Here, we have came up with some valid causes of these debts.
  • There are too many customers who cannot possibly find an equilibrium between their expenses and their income. The cases are not rare when people fall up to the ears into credit debts because of a sudden reduction of their income. They will keep spending as much as they have without considering the reduction in their income. In our opinion, they should know how to balance their expenses and their income so that there will not be any debts incurring.
  • Poor money management skills - Customers fail to record their expenses it incurred. Therefore, they fail to keep in track with their monthly balances. This will lead to sudden shock to the customers because if they need money urgently they might not have it.
  • Underemployment - a situation in which a person who is searching for work cannot find a job, in the case of underemployment, a person is working. All three of the definitions of "underemployment" involve underutilization of labor that critics say is missed by most official definitions and measurements of unemployment. The term can describe the employment of workers with high skill levels in low-wage jobs that do not require such abilities. When the salary is insufficient, the employees tend to use use their credit card to settle their financial difficulties.
  • some of the customers do not know the interest rate of credit card and exceeds maximum credit limit. They do not read the fine print of credit card and keep on to buy things.
To avoid credit card debts, here are some ways to prevent it.
  • Manage your finance - Starting with a strategy will help keep you on track before you ever even pull out the credit card. The first step is determining your monthly income and needed expenses. As part of these monthly expenses, allocate certain amount for emergencies, and long term savings. If you have some savings then you will be able to avoid having large amounts of debt on a credit card in times of a crisis.
  • Be aware of the interest rate - As a credit card customer, it is a must to know the interest rate charged. This is because, the interest rate offered to the customers may differ from the actual approved rate to the customer.
  • Pay on time - This is because, the universal default clause in credit cards’ terms and conditions, credit card companies can raise your interest rate if you are late paying any creditor or even your utility company. We would recommend you to make payment earlier than the due date because this will reduce the interest payment. This will eventually reduce the total debt to be paid.
  • Avoid extra expenses - Customers should avoid using credit card for their unnecessary expenses such as luxury shopping, and gambling. They should use credit card only for important expenses in order to reduce their usage.



Reference:
http://www.cardratings.com/howtoavoidcreditcarddebt.html

REVIEW ON Maybank2U.com

Maybank2U.com is the first one-stop online portal in Malaysia and it has tonnes of customers visiting it everyday. The main aim of this site is to give direct response to the changing needs of Maybank's customers. It is also part of Maybank's initiative to continue to upgrade the level of convenience as well as provide time and cost-saving services to its customers. With the creation of this website, customers are welcomed to give suggestions and feedback to Maybank which gives them room for improvement and continues learning experience.

This website has contributed much to where Maybank stands now in its industry. Maybank has also been evaluated as the best practiced and experienced Internet banking in Malaysia by renowned global banking and financial institutions. Maybank2u.com today therefore is more user and customer-centric which offers enhanced features and functionalities such as improved speed and access, improved navigation and a consistent 'look and feel, coupled with an international tinge in outlook.

With Maybank2U.com, users can obtain information on Maybank including a whole range of products and services and also locations of branches, ATMs and e-kawanKu centres available in Malaysia. Besides that a maybank2u subscriber can do banking and shopping transactions 24 hours a day. A significant service is electronic share trading where investors can trade on-line. Subscribers can view real-time stock prices on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, buy, sell and pay for their stock transactions instantaneously.

Another important service is the online bill payment which covers over 100 payee corporations such as utility companies, municipal councils, insurance and telecommunication companies. Maybank has also increased smart partnership with major commercial companies to allow users to do online shopping including paying or purchasing Celcom and Digi telecommunication bills, computers from I-Berhad and registering for online education from myEtutor. Hence, Maybank2u.com offers banking, online stock trading and e-shopping convenience anytime and anywhere, without queues and without hassle as long as one has registered and is connected to the Internet. While its enhanced features provide faster and more convenient access to a whole range of information of the bank and group, it still retains the consistent and secured features for its online transaction activities.

Since its launch in June 2000, Maybank2u.com received the prestigious e-Commerce Site of the Year 2000 Award by PIKOM-Computimes and the corporate database at maybank.com.my received the Best Company Website Malaysia by Asiamoney in 2000. Therefore, this transactional website doesn't only benefit the users by allowing tansactions to be more efficient, economical and effective rather also enhances the growth and competitiveness of the Bank in future.







Reference Link:
http://www.maybank2u.com.my/mbb_info/m2u/public/aboutUs.do

What is a Corporate Blog?



A corporate weblog published and used by an organization to reach its organizational goals. In external communications the potential benefits include strengthened relationships with important target groups and the positioning of the publishing organization as industry experts. Internally, blogs are generally referred to as tools for collaboration and knowledge management.




The Nature of Blogs

To understand blogs as a corporate communication tool, one must understand the nature of blogs. The following are the relevant distinctive features of a blog,

Personality
Blogs are not objective as they give you biased opinion and you know it. In a way, they are much like reading letters from someone. You can sense their values, interests, and personality.

Voice
A blog has a voice of its own which is an author's voice. There are no templates for this. The author has to be daring to be a person instead of an official and a voice will be heard. Blogging should not be compared to journalism but you can find similarities between Voice and a good newspaper's columns.

Links
Blogging mainly relates to the art of linking and it is the major part of the blog. As blog readers, we want it. The blogs does that for us but in very small niche. With blogs we like, we get interesting links with at least some degree of context.

Feed
This is a technical stuff and blogs can be identified by content-related characteristics alone. Most blogs are published on websites and are also called feeds.


Reasons for Blogging
  • Become the expert. Position yourself and your company as the thought leader of your business.
  • Customer relations. In a forum where your main objective is not to sell, you will have a more personal relationship with your customers. Blogs are a fast way to join customer discussions, provide tips and insights, or receive feed backs.
  • Internal collaboration. Blogs can be used a workspace where project members can each other updated without wasting time writing reports or searching the Outlook inbox.
  • Knowledge management. Blogs works in two ways. Firstly, they are an easy way for readers to find information and resources needed. This can be used internally in many organizations. Secondly, blogging is like on-the-job learning.
  • Recruitment. If you establish your company as a thought leader, people in your business will pay attention. They will read and discuss what you have to say. Chances are good as they see you as an attractive employer.
  • Test ideas or products. A blog is informal where people can leave a comment and the blog can provide you with a measure of value. Publish an idea and see whether does it generate interest of others



Types of Corporate Blogs

External blogs:

Sales Blogs
  • Purpose: To market or sell products or services, make citizens aware of public services, get donations from charities and others.
  • Blogger: The organization itself or more specifically individuals within it who are writing in behalf of the organization.
  • Target groups: Potential customers or citizens who are directly involved with the publishing organization, or those who want to achieve the purpose above.
Relationship blogs
  • Purpose: To create, uphold, and strengthen relationships.
  • Blogger: The organization itself or specifically individuals who are writing in behalf of the organization.
  • Target groups: Often smaller or more specified than sales blog. For example, support blogs for a particular product.
Branding blogs
  • Purpose: To strengthen the brand and profile of the publishing organization or individuals within it.
  • Blogger: Not necessary the organization itself. If supported by the organization, individual employees' or executive blogging, can be viewed as a branding blog. The same goes for blogs that are not apparently connected to the organization.
  • Target groups: Same as relationship and sales blogs

Internal blogs

Knowledge blogs
  • Purpose: To give employees information and insights relating t their work assignments, news, business intelligents and many more.
  • Blogger: The organization itself through one or more designated bloggers, or potentially all employees through a entirely open blog publishing model.
  • Target group: All employees with a targeted interest.
Collaboration blogs
  • Purpose: To provide a woking team with a tool for research, collaboration and discussion.
  • Blogger: The team
  • Target group: The team
Culture blogs
  • Purpose: To strenghthen organizational culture. Typically through informal of social or non-work related character.
  • Blogger: The organization itself, through one or more designated bloggers, and potentially all employees through an entirely open blog publishing model.
  • Targer group: All employees as employees, and not professionals (developers, managers, and so on)










Reference links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/corporate_blog

The Concept of M-Payment

Mobile payment (m-payment) is a point of sale payment made through a mobile device such as a cellular telephone, a smart phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA).

The earliest trial of m-payment was based on the Wide Area Network (WAN) which was used for cellular phones. But however now with all the technology advancement, Bluetooth and WiFi are also being used to make m-payments. To secure m-commerce in general, public key infrastructure (PKI) encryption are being Incorporated into digital wireless networks and devices to enhance consumer confidence in m-payment's security.

M-Payment In Malaysia and Its Potentials

In Malaysia, Nokia, Maxis, Maybank,Visa and Touch 'n Go teamed up to provide credit card users the chance to buy items through their mobile phones. This mobile payment service uses near field communication (NFC) technology. NFC is a short range wireless technology that allows communications between devices at close range.This technology gives way to wide range of features like credit card, debit card, ticketing and transportation payments to be integrated to a mobile phone. With Maxis FastTap, customers can now use their mobile phones to pay for toll, transit, parking, and theme park charges at more than 3,000 Touch 'n Go points nationwide.

M-payment is the ultimate solution for most emerging markets. The straight of this hype mobile commerce is promising to provide rich, personalised, localised and real time content on handheld mobile technologies to users anywhere, anytime plus provides more convenience to traditional electronic commerce. Besides that m-payment also encourages more consumers to shop online because it efficient, effective and economical.

M-payment system will definitely be a great boon to the e-commerce industry in Malaysia. It will surely encourage more merchants to adopt online selling as an extra sales channel which complement perfectly with their offline sales channel to help them to increase their sales. Realizing these needs of merchants here, Mobile Money International Sdn Bhd had come up with the 1'st shopping cart software. They have integrated Mobile Money as a payment method in their webShaper e-commerce software which allows merchants to accept payment via Mobile Money and processes payments in real time.

M-payments system are set to make a significant impact in our country in banking and commerce sectors. Mobile phones can now be used to buy online, via ‘swipe’ points in retail outlets, and mobile-to-mobile. This technology enables its customers to use the services it offers. In fact, subscribers are increasingly using their handsets as banking tools, and this coupled with the spread of m-payments applications has created many exciting revenue opportunities. This market is expanding and taking first-mover position will be important to organization to place in securing their place in it.

Customers' Adoption Strategies

In order to make customers in adopting to m-payment systems Malaysian government should firslty educate consumers on how this system works and how it could benefit them in terms of time and money.Besides that Malaysian companies also can give customers gift vouchers, discounts and rebates upon reaching a certain level of purchase. An example of a company that gives this kind of benefit to its customers is Maxis. Where for its Hotlink customers, the company gives a certain accumulation of points every time a customer reload their phones. Upon reaching a certain number points, the customer will be given extra credit which they can convert it to airtime or sms.
Reference Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_payment

Introduction on Electronic Currency


Transaction, buying and selling have been brought closer to us and made much easier with online means of payment technique. Electronic currency is also known as electronic money, digital cash, e-money and more. This involves the use of computer networks, the internet and digital store value systems. There are a variety of ways in which online transaction can be carried out without much hassle. Besides purchasing and selling products, one can also carry out major business payments and other transactions using e-money. Examples of electronic currency are direct deposit and Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT).






The picture above shows how EFT transactions are carried out




Types of Electronic Currency

There are two types of electronic currency which are:

  • Identified e-money contains information revealing the identity of individual who originally withdrew the e-money from the bank. A transaction path of e-money can also be created, which means the bank is able to keep track of movements of e-money through the e-market. This is important for the banks and other relevant authorities to detect any fraud or irregularities, for instance, money laundering. Examples of this kind of e-money are PayPal and WebMoney.

  • Anonymous e-money is where once the e-money is withdrawn from the bank, the identity of the person who uses the money will be unknown and the bank cannot track the e-money's movement through the e-market, for example, hard cash. This feature can be misused by certain irresponsible parties who are carrying out illegal transactions.

Advantages of Electronic Currency

  • Reduces company's expenses because transferring digital money through the internet is cheaper than using conventional bank systems, since there is no need for the use of extra forms or hire-teller.

  • Makes transactions procedures easy as there is no need to fill up forms or make telephone inquiries to the bank. So the number of procedures to follow are lesser compared to the traditional method.

  • Promotes fast transaction because there is real time coordination of information and transaction without the needs of intermediaries services. If the process reqiures services of the bank, it will take a longer time especially if the bank is going through peak hours.
  • Secured payment because e-money banks use SET-enabled servers and SSL-enhanced browsers (others) that provides more secured online payment. This build customers' confidence in utilizing electronic currency.



Disadvantages of Electronic Currency


  • Communication overheads: Security and anonymity can cause bottlenecks to the system which can happen at times during real-time verifications. This may cause the system to slow down.

  • Massive databases: The bank will have to main a detailed and confidential database because it involves a lot of highly private and confidential information of its customers.

  • Synchronization: The bank need to synchronize its server everytime transaction is made. It will be insanely impracticable to maintain.

Reference links:

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-electronic-cash.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-money







































































In this fast moving world, everyone tends to depend on computers and internet. They buy and sell products online, and services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown extraordinarily with widespread Internet usage. It is well known that by using E-commerce, things can be done fast and accurately. Besides that, customers can also reduce cost because there's no extra cost incurred such as travelling cost, surcharge and so on. Although E-commerce has alot of advantages, it also has its drawback. Customers tend to trust internet and reveal their personal information such as, bank account number, handphone number and so on. Are these information being protected? There are certain ways that can violate the customers personal and financial information. Hackers can steal customers' information and misuse it. In order to prevent this situation the internet security should be increased.

There are number of ways to safeguard our financial and personal data.

1. Use password protection.

Password protection is one of the most commonly used method to safeguard our financial and personal data. Apassword is a secret word or string of characters that is used for authentication, to prove identity or gain access to a resource. The password must be kept secret from those not allowed access. The passwords should be chosen so that they are hard for an attacker to guess and hard for an attacker to discover using any of the available automatic attack schemes.

2. Use Biometric System
Biometrics refers to methods for uniquely recognizing humans based upon one or more intrinsic physical or behavioral traits. In information technology, in particular, biometrics is used as a form of identity access management and access control. It is also used to identify individuals in groups that are under surveillance. Biometric characteristics can be divided in two main classes which are physiological and behavioral.





  • Physiological are related to the shape of the body. Examples include, but are not limited to fingerprint, face recognition, DNA, hand and palm geometry, iris recognition, which has largely replaced retina, and odor/scent.

  • Behavioral are related to the behavior of a person. Examples include, but are not limited to typing rhythm, gait, and voice. Some researchers have coined the term behaviometrics for this class of biometrics.


3. Encryption
Encryption is the process of transforming information that is known as plaintext using an algorithm to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information is known as ciphertext. Encryption is now commonly used in protecting information within many kinds of civilian systems.Encryption can be used to protect data "at rest", such as files on computers and storage devices (e.g. USB flash drives). Encryption is also used to protect data in transit, for example data being transferred via networks (e.g. the Internet, e-commerce), mobile telephones, wireless microphones, wireless intercom systems, Bluetooth devices and bank automatic teller machines. Encryption will keep the information integrated and confidential.


4. Install Anti-virus Software and Firewall
Anti-virus software is used to prevent, detect, and remove malware including computer viruses, worms and trojan horses. Such programs may also prevent and remove adware and spyware and other forms of malware. Examples of notable anti-viruses are, Avira, Norton Antivirus,
Panda and Bitdefender.


Firewall Diagram

A firewall is a part of a computer system or network that is designed to block unauthorized access while permitting authorized communications. It is a device or set of devices configured to permit, deny, encrypt, decrypt, or proxy all (in and out) computer traffic between different security domains based upon a set of rules and other criteria. Firewalls can be implemented in either hardware or software, or a combination of both. Firewalls are frequently used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks connected to the Internet, especially intranets. All messages entering or leaving the intranet pass through the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specified security criteria. A firewall's function within a network is similar to physical firewalls with fire doors in building construction. In the former case, it is used to prevent network intrusion to the private network. In the latter case, it is intended to contain and delay structural fire from spreading to adjacent structures.


REFERENCE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_antivirus_software
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/biometric-authentication.html

PHISHING: WHAT IS IT?

Phishing is a criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as user names, passwords, and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Phishing is typically carried out by e-mail or instant messaging, and it often directs users to enter personal and confidential information at a fake website which looks almost identical as the legitimate one. Legitimate organizations would never request this information of you via e-mail. It is an example of social engineering techniques used to fool users and exploits the poor usability of current website security technologies.





EXAMPLES OF PHISHING & PREVENTION METHODS

Phishing e-mail


As shown above, the phishing e-mail scam is where the attacker claims to be acting in the interest of safety and integrity for the online banking community. Of course, in order to do so, you are instructed to visit a fake website and enter critical financial information. Then, the attacker will use that information to disrupt the safety and integrity which they claim to protect. Therefore, here are some tips of prevention on what to look for in a phishing e-mail.


What to look for in a phishing e-mail:

Generic gretting

Phishing e-mails are usually sent in large batches. In order to save time, Internet criminals use generic names like "Dear Citibank Customer" so they do not have to type all recipients' name out and send e-mails one by one. If you do not see your name appearing, be suspicious.

Forged link

Even if a link has a name you recognize somewhere in it, it does not mean it links to the real organization. Roll the mouse over the link and see if it matches what appears in the email. If there exists a discrepancy, do not click the link. Websites which are safe begin with "https", where the "s" stands for secured. If you do not see "https", please do not proceed.

Request of personal details

The point of sending phishing e-mails is to trick users to provide their personal information. If you receive an e-mail requesting for your personal information, it is most probably a phishing attempt.

Sense of urgency

Interner criminals want you to provide your personal information now. They do this by making you think that something has happenned and requires you to act fast. The faster they get your personal information, the faster they can move to another victim.




Phishing website






A phishing website or sometimes called as 'spoofed site' tries to steal your account password or other confidential information by tricking you into believing that you are on a legitimate website. You can even land on a phishing site by mistyping the web address (URL). It is easy for phishers to create websites that look like a genuine article, complete logos and other graphics of a trusted website. Here are some tips that can help you distinguish a real website from a phishing site.



Prevention Tips:

Check the web address

  • Incorrect company name - Web address of phishing sites often looks correct but actually contains common mispelling of a company's name or a character or symbol after or before the company's name. Look out for tricks such as substituting 'I' with '1' in a web address.

  • Missing slash- To verify that you are on a legitimate site for example, eBay site make sure a forward slash ("/") appears after the ebay.com in the address bar

Be alert of pop-ups

Be careful if you are sent to a website that first displays a pop-up window asking you to enter your user name and password. Phishing scams may lead to a legitimate site but uses the pop-up to gain your account information.


Give a fake password

If you are not sure whether a site is authentic, do not use your real password to sign in. If you enter a fake password and it appears to be signed it, then most likely you are on a phishing site. Do not enter any information and immediately close your browser. At times, some phishing sites automatically displays an error message regardless of the password you have keyed in. So eventough your fake password was rejected, please do not assume the site is legitimate.


Use a web browser with anti-phishing detection

Both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox web browsers have free add-ons or plug-ins that can help you detect phishing sites.


Reference link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing

http://only4fact.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/phishing-examples-and-its-prevention-methods/











































THREATS OF ONLINE SECURITY:
How Safe Is Our Data?

These days, online security is one of the biggest challenge on the Internet. The problem is that the person who wants to attack one's computer can easily access into one's system by focusing on the common security failures. So the best thing a person can do is to use security software and hardware such as firewall and authentication servers to protect their computers and their personal information. However, there are new viruses and security threats that are being launched all over the Internet almost everyday. This calls for a need to update programs that can be updated continuously which does not focuses on one specific type of problem, rather looks into all possible problems. So it is best to chose hardware and software that will update automatically when one's on the Internet.

The main online security threats are as follows:

CYBERCRIME
Cybercrime is an illegal activity commited on the Internet. Computer nowadays are being misused for illegal activities like e-mail espionage, credit card fraud, spams and software piracy to name a few. This act is carried out by people who have advanced computer knowledge and network skills like hackers, crackers and coporate spies to get access into computers and misuse private data and information.

PHISHING
Phishing is a fraudulent attempt, usually made through email to steal a person's personal information. Phishing email normally appear as though it comes from a well known organization and ask for one's personal information like credit card number, social security number, bank account number and passwords. This kind of email would almost always ask one to click on a link that takes them to a site where they will have to key in their personal information. We must always bare in mind that legitimate organizations would never request any personal information via email.

INTERNET OR NETWORK ATTACKS
Internet and network connections are highly being effected by malicious software (malware). Malware is a wide category of software which is installed in one's computer without their permission. This sofware can damage or spy on a computer's activities. The most common types of malware are trojan, worms and viruses. Symptoms of malware infections are pop up ads, general slowdown, or browsers redicects to unwanted websites. Malware can disrupt work or normal operations of the system by causing a denial of service (DOS), corrupting data, taking up system resouces and consuming network bandwidth. Besides that, users will also be facing difficulaties to shut down or restart their computers.

BACKDOOR
A backdoor is a means of access to a computer program that bypassess security mechanisms to steal, destroy or even misuse information and data available in the system. A programmer may sometimes install a backdoor so that the program can be accessed for troubleshooting or other purposes. However, attackers often use backdoor that they detect or install themselves. Besides that, attackers also sometimes design worms that takes advantage of a backdoor created by an earlier attacker.


PROTECT YOURSELF FROM ONLINE THREATS

What we suggest is that every user need to have a multi-layered defence to keep them out from these threats. Each user should :

Have a security software like anti-virus, anti-spyware and a firewall or a security suite that includes all three.

Update their conputers, block spam emails and and use an up to date web browser which will make it harder for the attackers to get into the specific users computer system.

Make a regular backup of their music, pictures and other files incase of emergancies.

Not use their computers in an administrative mode. Its better to make a user account and log-in with that on a day to day basis.





Reference Links:

http://cybercoyote.org/security/tools.shtml

http://tech-faq.com/online-security-threats.shtml








One of the top ten E-commerce failure is Boo.com. Boo.com was a British Internet company founded by Swedes Ernst Malmsten, Kajsa Leander and Patrik Hedelin that famously went bust following the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. After several highly publicized delays, Boo.com launched in the Autumn of 1999 selling branded fashion apparel such as clothing and cosmetics over the Internet. The company spent $135 million of Venture capitalists' money in just 18 months, and it was placed into receivership on 18 May 2000 and liquidated. In June 2008, CNET hailed Boo.com as one of the greatest defunct websites in history.


There are several reasons behind the downfall of Boo.com. Boo.com’s founders spent £125 million in just six months, to market itself as a global company but then had to deal with different languages, pricing and tax structures in countries it served. Their sales was not up to their expectation, especially when there were a high numbers of returned products by their customers (the company mysteriously decided to pay postage on returns). In our opinion, we feel that Boo.com should have spent lower amount to market itself as a global company. This is because, as a new company they should expand their business slowly in order for them to cope up. Besides that, customers may not trust a new E-commerce company. Therefore, instead of expanding business world wide, they should have focused in one country to gain
customer loyalty and be more familiar with the E-commerce world.



The second reason is, the company failed to design websites for their target customers. Boo.com website relied heavily on JavaScript and Flash technology to display pseudo-3D views of wares as well as Miss Boo, a sales-assistant-style avatar. The first publicly released version of the site was fairly hefty—the home page alone was several hundred kilobytes which meant that the vast majority of users had to wait minutes for the site to load (as broadband technologies were still not widely available at that time). The site's front page did contain the warning, "this site is designed for 56K modems and above".


The complicated design required the site to be displayed in a fixed size window, which limited the space available to display product information to the customer. Navigation techniques changed as the customer moved around the site, which appealed to those who were visiting to see the website but frustrated those who simply wanted to buy clothes.Its interface was also complex with a hierarchical system that required the user to answer four or five different questions before revealing that there were no products in stock in a particular sub-section. The same basic questions then had to be answered again until results were found. In our opinion, we feel that the company should have considered about the customers who have slow internet connection.




Reference Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boo.com

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Hi! Welcome to our E-Commerce Blog. We are students from University Tunku Abdul Rahman, BAC Group 12. Starting from today, we will be sharing our knowlegde about E-Commerce by posting some related blogs. Hope it will be informative to you. Do send us your comments. Thank You.



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