E-commerce and its Importance
E-commerce is the process of purchasing and selling goods and services via electronic systems such as the internet and computer networks. Since the advent of internet services, the amount of transaction undertaken electronically has expanded. Security is a crucial aspect of transactions that are typically conducted over the internet. Customers tend to lose faith in e-commerce when security is violated (Lopez, Huang & Sandhu, 2013).
Availability in E-commerce
Another essential necessity for e-businesses is availability, which ensures that information is easily available whenever it is needed. E-commerce is quite important in trade since it helps individuals to connect to one another and exchange goods and services although several challenges are experienced.
Problem Statement
Commerce has faced several challenges and selecting this topic will allow highlighting of the main issues faced by businesses and its significance in the economy. The most challenging types of security that e-commerce face are the technical attacks whereby the perpetrators target some sites and attacks that have high-profile web services like the credit card payment and the banks. Social networking sites and the large online retailers are also among the target. Denial of the service is an example of technical attacks whereby the network and the websites are attacked with the aim of paralyzing their normal activities. The denial of service is the major security problem that is experienced in the today's internet (Deng & Zhang, 2014). It then becomes difficult to trace the origin of the attack because of the use of incorrect addresses to hide the true origin of the attack. The attack may result to slowing the performance of the network or it may lead to loss of website such that it does not appear on the internet. Other services attack is the failure to access any website on the internet hence making it difficult for e-business people to communicate.
Non-Technical Attacks in E-business
Other problems related to e-business is the non-technical attacks like the phishing attacks that is done through attempting to acquire very sensitive information like the passwords and the username through pretending to give a trustworthy entity in a system of communication. This type of frauds is done through emailing the client with a fake email with a view of getting very sensitive information from the victim (Griffin, Ladd & Whitehead, 2011). After getting the information, the attacker can easily use the information to benefit him/herself through threatening the owners. This type of attack has been used to attack bank customers who operate through the online and the retailers. Cybercriminals tend to attack through posing as charities especially when there is the natural disaster like the earthquake where they pretend to offer assistance.
Significance of the Topic
Doing business on the internet is becoming popular and many entrepreneurs and business owners are utilizing it to broaden their customer base. E-commerce helps in maintaining integrity and authentication, thus this discussing can help people in gathering information that can help them to establish successful venture. The matter concerning data ensures that the it is usually transmitted in a correct manner and consistently. Data should not be tampered with or altered during transmission and at the same time, the parties should trust each other such that they offer accurate information. The customers should be authentically sure that they are who they claim to be without lying to the other. The digital signatures, as well as the public key infrastructures, are the main strong verifications that are used in e- businesses as the security measures. The growth of e-commerce has been due to the introduction of digital signatures to verify data hence maintaining integrity and authentication (Röhrig & Knorr, 2004). It is the best system for electronic transactions for parties who may be living far apart because it ensures that each party confirms the identities hence reducing the possibility of fraud during the transaction. This kind of transaction also ensures that there is evidence of the transaction that took place hence it hinders the sender of the message from denying of having sent the message. In this case, digital signatures with the use of public-key cryptography as well as the hash function are always accepted as the best ways of providing the best means of transaction online and communication (Danezis, Dietrich & Sako, 2012). Confidentiality is among the essential requirements that are necessary for safe e-business transactions and is achieved through securing information from unauthorized persons. It ensures that important information is not accessible to unauthorized people in which case, it should not be disclosed during transmission.
Conclusion
In conclusion, e-businesses have been proved as the best means of transaction businesses globally due to increased connectivity. However, internet hackers tend to disappoint the customers through attacking the systems, which may also lead to the total breakdown of the communication making it inefficient. Selecting this topic for discussion is necessary to alert people about the challenges faced as well as the importance of e-business. Hackers are a threat to businesses but with the introduction of digital signatures, the hackers are not easily able to access the information that should remain private and the transaction between the two parties has become more efficient.
References
Danezis, G., Dietrich, S., & Sako, K. (2012). Financial cryptography and data security (1st ed.). Berlin: Springer.
Deng, X. & Zhang, J. (2014). Differentiating the Effects of Internet Usage and Wireless Usage on Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer E-commerce. Journal Of Internet Commerce, 13(2), 138-157. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15332861.2014.934648
Griffin, K., Ladd, P., & Whitehead, Jr., R. (2011). Internet Commerce: Security Is Still A Concern. Review of Business Information Systems (RBIS), 2(1), 67. http://dx.doi.org/10.19030/rbis.v2i1.5452
Lopez, J., Huang, X., & Sandhu, R. (2013). Network and system security (1st ed.). Berlin: Springer.
Röhrig, S. & Knorr, K. (2004). Security Analysis of Electronic Business Processes. Electronic Commerce Research, 4(1/2), 59-81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/b:elec.0000009282.06809.c5
