Potential Risks of an E-Commerce System

Potential Risks of an E-Commerce System

Computer viruses and malicious software are some of the biggest threats to an e-commerce system. Viruses come from external sources and can corrupt files if introduced into the internal network. They can completely halt or destroy a computer system and disrupt the operations of any website especially E-Commerce. Malicious software such as Trojan horses pose an even greater threat as they can capture information about your clients before any encryption software can take effect. They can also impersonate a customer and pass bad or malicious code into the server running the website, this then becomes an internal problem.
“An e-commerce website is also vulnerable to fraud from both internal and external sources. Fraud activities include credit card fraud, which exposes the site to threat from customers and external sources, and internal fraud, such as fraudulent transactions being entered into the system from the back-end by rogue employees. Fraudulent transactions can also be introduced into the system by hackers or Trojan horses, with such fraudulent transactions appearing identical to real customers ' transactions.”(Gissimee Doe, 2013)
Hackers pose a threat to the future of e-commerce in two ways. First, they directly endanger e-commerce by increasing the risk of private financial information transmitted over the Internet being intercepted and used for illegal purposes. Secondly, they indirectly suppress the growth of e-commerce by undermining the public 's confidence in the safety of online transactions. This indirect threat is from the way that consumers perceive hackers. Hackers are typically characterised as super-criminals with extraordinary powers and malicious intent, many consumers may still be afraid to buy and sell goods and services over the Internet, even with adequate safeguards.
“Software firewalls consist of a software package that is installed on a server such as Linux or Windows. Software or server-based firewalls also typically sit between the Internet and an internal network so that it can provide maximum protection from harmful data packets. Software firewalls cause slightly more delay than appliances since there is more software involved, and software always introduces delays. This can be especially true if the firewall is also providing proxy or content filtering services. However, the delay is still slight and the trade-off for protection is considered worth it to most companies.” (Alan Hughes, 2013)
It is very important to have enough server capacity to handle you e-commerce shoppers. Many online retailers move to larger servers with more memory and CPUs to prepare for large numbers of customers especially around holiday seasons such as Christmas. Internet retailers rely on the High Availability (HA) concept to keep their e-commerce running in the face of unexpected glitches and malfunctions. The HA concept is quite simple and is based on eliminating as many single points of failure as possible within a reasonable budget. The simplest HA approach is to ensure a redundant infrastructure. This means your server has at least two network connections, two power supplies connected to different electrical circuits and two mirrored hard drives to prevent data loss if one of them suddenly crashes. The server itself is still a single point of failure though, and if it crashes, so does your online revenue. This is something you always need to keep an eye on.

Bibliography
Alan Hughes. (2013). How Does a Firewall Affect Speed?. Available: http://www.ehow.com/info_12183897_firewall-affect-speed.html. Last accessed 03/05/2013.
Gissimee Doe. (2013). What Are Some External & Internal Threats to an eCommerce Website?. Available: http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_8387883_external-internal-threats-ecommerce-website.html. Last accessed 1/05/2013.

Bibliography: Alan Hughes. (2013). How Does a Firewall Affect Speed?. Available: http://www.ehow.com/info_12183897_firewall-affect-speed.html. Last accessed 03/05/2013. Gissimee Doe. (2013). What Are Some External & Internal Threats to an eCommerce Website?. Available: http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_8387883_external-internal-threats-ecommerce-website.html. Last accessed 1/05/2013.