Safety and Security


The tremendous growth of electronic commerce has far reaching social and economic impact that needs the creation of safeguards for the users surfing the Internet. Consumers are exposed to the likely threats of unautorized data use, unfair marketing prices and infringement on privacy brought about by conducting businesses through open networks. Companies should remember the Internet was initially designed to share information, not to provide a secure arena for transactions processing.

Security is considered by many to be the biggest obstacle to the widspread use of e-commerce. [Backhouse,1998]. Businesses want to be sure that the risk of fraud and unauthorized access is eliminated or at least minimized before they start making electronic transactions. The 1998 Information Security Survey found that most companies have failed to implement adequate information security measures. [1]. About 74% of companies using the Internet have not evaluated security of their sites while less than 50% of them have Internet security measures on place.

New security schemes and technologies are constantly coming to the market. Security concerns center on issues including encryption, creation and authentication of digital signatures, and electronic cash. To improve, online services must be widely accessible, proven reliable an designed up to consumer expectations.

Useful links of information on Safety & Security

Five Security Secrets. ZDnet Products, July 23,1988
http://www.zdnet.com/products/stories/networkmanager/columnist/0,5184,2155297,00.html[back to text]

EDI: Security (1996) In Edistone Books [On Line]
http://www.http://pages.prodigy.com/edibooks/edich34.html[back to text]

References

[Backouse, James] "Security: the Achilles heel of electronic commerce". Society, May-June 1998, v35. p28.[back to text]

[1] "Companies fail to take IT security measures". Security Survey. Engineering, March, 1998 v.239, p8.[back to text]