How to safeguard financial & personal data

Financial data and personal data are confidential data for every person. It consists a lot of private information that cannot be known by others. Nowadays, there is a lot of victim that fall under online fraud or identity theft. Hence the fraud or identity thefts cases are increasing such as passwords, bank account numbers or credit card numbers were stolen. Therefore, it is important that we use some necessary ways to safeguard the data which is needed for the personal data to be secured.

Firstly, you have to choose passwords that would be difficult for someone who knows you to guess. Many people like to use their birth date or phone number as their password, this is definitely wrong. It is because not only the hacker but your close friends also can be easily figure out the password and hack into your account. Besides that, make the passwords more complicated and different for every different website. So it is hard for a person to crack the password and the person is unable to steal all the financial or personal information.

Next, keep your financial and personal data off your computer. Try to avoid for keeping some bank account numbers or passwords in the computer. It is easy for a hacker or spyware program to hack into your computer and detect all the sensitive data. Hence we should buy an external hard disk or thumb drive to store all the confidential and sensitive data. It is simple and effective way to prevent data theft. Thus we only have to plug in the drive whenever we need to refer on the data.


Thirdly, install anti-virus or anti-spyware software into the computer. Not only that, you should also keep the software up to date so it is able to detect all the virus or spyware in the computer. Without an anti-virus software, any virus or worms can spoil all the information in the computer and steal it to earn money. As well as the data get stolen, the computer will also run slower if there is some virus or Trojan horse in the computer.

Last but not least, be more alert when take the computer for fixing. People simply trust technician and hence hand over the computer to them when something goes wrong. It is just a piece of cake where the technician can easily copy down all the personal data for themselves. So it is important that people should delete all their personal information before hand it to the technician. In another way, they can request the technician to come over to their house to fix the computer and you just watch as they do it.


Reference:

http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/13-ways-to-protect-personal-data-from-online-fraud-and-identity-theft/zh/

The Threat of online Security: How safe is our data

Nowadays, computer users are facing the threats of cybercrime, phishing, internet and network attacks such as computer viruses, worms and Trojan horses and back doors. A threat to an information resource is any danger to which a system may be exposed.





Denial of service (DOS)
An attack on a web site in which an attacker uses specialized software to send a flood of data packets to the target computer with the aim of overloading its resources.


Back door
A back door is a set of instructions in a program that allow users to bypass security control when accessing a program, computer, or network. Once perpetrators gain access to unsecure computers, they often install a back door or modify an existing program to include a back door, enabling them to continue to access the computers remotely without the user’s knowledge.



Malicious Code: Viruses, Worms, Trojan horse
Virus is a piece of software code that inserts itself into a host, including the operating systems; running its host program activates the virus. A virus has two components. First, it has a propagation mechanism by which it spreads. Second, it has a payload that refers to what the virus done once it is executed.
Worm can spread itself without human intervention. Worms use networks to propagate and infect a computer or handheld device and can even spread via instant messages.
Trojan horse is a program that appears to have a useful function but that contains hidden functions that present a security risk.


On the other hand “Hacking” a computer which is another threat is the act of exploiting vulnerable operating system functions, applications, and peripherals to gain unsolicited access to a computer or network. It also describes someone who attempts to break into computer system. This kind of hacker has the sufficient technical knowledge to understand the weak points in the security system and act maliciously.


In conclusion, risk exposed by computer users is increasing with the increasing developed technology. Therefore, safeguards developed must be always up to date to enhance the defenses against online security threats.



My suggestion “How to Prevent Threat”
Computer system is very important for the organizations. When the organizations computer system attacked by the computer viruses, it may cause important data to be lost. Therefore, organizational should install update anti-virus software such as Kaspersky Antivirus, AVG Antivirus software, Norton Antivirus, Avast Antivirus and so on. Besides that, organizational must concurrent backup their data and files.

Revenue model for Google, Amazon.com and eBay.

A revenue model is used by e-commerce to make money. There are 5 major revenue model includes sales, transaction fees, subscription fees, advertising fees and affiliate fees.

Google

Google is using online advertising space model to generate revenue. Google AdWords is offers PPC advertising program. PPC stand for pay per click determined by people click on the advertisement then only have to pay for one click. It is benefit for control cost and prospects geographically since people looking for information about the products and services online.

Google also have another revenue model which called Google AdSense. It is an advertising serving program. This program able make money through serving AdSense targeted to specific web content and search pages. Website owner enable text and video advertisement. This is same concept as cost per click basis. Advertiser is required to pay Google fees a user click on the advertisement. This is a way that Google AdSense generates revenue. For instance, radio stations gain revenue from advertisement. Google AdSense makes charge from number of viewer whose click on that advertisement. This is counted by number of viewers click on that advertising and taking them to the particular website. This is a way that Google AdSense generates revenue. For instance, radio stations gain revenue from advertisement. Google AdSense makes charge from number of viewer whose click on that advertisement. This is counted by number of viewers click on that advertising and taking them to the particular website.

In addition, Froogle is a price engine website and a service that people easily to search information of the product through sale online.


Amazon.com
Whereas, revenue model for Amazon.com is a direct online sales models. Amazon.com establishes a website as business and directly sells to people entering the store to make a purchase. Customers buy the product through a mail order catalog; therefore, the delivery is always by mail. All products can be delivered to the customers via downloading process.

eBay
One of the revenue models that eBay gain revenue through online commission model. Individual and companies can also be established as affiliates, where they gain commission for sales made through a company using the direct online sales model such as online company- eBay. Google also gain a commission for advertisement placed on others’ websites. eBay is an internet auction site that connects individual buyers and sellers worldwide. eBay also earns transaction fees from payment (PayPal). For fiscal year 2008, eBay generated revenue around $8.5 million which is increased by 11% compare to fiscal year 2007.

Reference:

http://www.school-for-champions.com/ecommerce/business_models.htm

http://www.organicspam.com/google_revenue_model.asp

http://www.google.com/products?q=froogle&aq=f

http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Amazon.com_(AMZN)

http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/EBay_(EBAY)

An E-Commerce success and its causes

One of the examples of an E-Commerce success is eBay. eBay has been very popular in recent years due to the advancement of technology and IT. According to Pierre Omidyar, a computer programmer who developed eBay, “eBay is the world’s largest online marketplace which offer trade on a worldwide basis at any time.”

eBay is founded in 1995, it has become very well known around the world nowadays and it is a place where visited by hundreds of millions of people every day. It has become very successful because of internet has expanded, people more and more conducted their day to day activities online nowadays.

eBay is tend to have a successful response over the country because it provides a lot of benefits to consumers. We can see that eBay is providing an open trading way to determine the value of items sold. Over the year, people who visiting on eBay website is increasing, one of the reasons is because the website is clearly shown out all the description of the products and providing a view into what objects the consumers want most at any time.

Hence, people tend to visit online store to sell or buy the products they want nowadays. Reason is because it is more convenient and people get to have more variety of choices to choose by just looking at the computer screen. It is save their time where they do not have to walk out from the house and carry all the ways to the physical shops.

Besides that, eBay is using PayPal to process the payment. It allows people to send and receive payments online easily and securely. The process is faster than you go to the bank to do the transferring of money.


Thus, eBay is enable people around the world to enjoy and familiar connected to each other to buy or sell the product they want at a fair price. Consumers will feel comfortable to bargain at the price and they are getting a good price if the bargaining success. Then consumers only have to pay the product and the transportation fees and will receive the product in a short time.

Moreover, the reason they are success is because of eBay community that they set up. The features in eBay community like discussion boards, chat board, forum and feedback leaved back customer allowed the buyer and seller to form a meaningful relationships. Through this, satisfied consumers will always come back to eBay for another trade.

Last but not least, eBay success is also due to their trusted and effective services they provided for their seller and customer. By having trust and favorable feedbacks from the consumers, eBay will do changes and updating according to their needs. Thus, its will eventually getting more and more people visit on eBay to trade.

Reference:

http://news.ebay.com/about.cfm

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/2127.html

The History and Evolution of E-Commerce

Electronic Commerce is a type of business model and enables people buying, selling, transferring, or exchanging products, services or information via computer networks such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) which gave an opportunity for users to exchange business information and do electronic transactions. The ability to use these technologies appeared in the late 1970s and allowed business companies and organizations to send commercial documentation electronically.

However, in 1984 the Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 develops standards for cross-industry electronic exchange of business information. These standards became stable and reliable in transferring large amounts of transactions.

In the early 1990s, when the internet was opened to commercial use and users began participate in the World Wide Web (WWW), e-commerce application rapidly expanded so that a large number of dot-com also appeared.

In year 1992, one of a America website name Compuserve has offers online retail products to its customers. This gives people the first chance to buy things off their computer.

During year 1994, Marc Andreessen began the creation of a browser by the name of Mosaic which was then adapted into the Netscape browser. It providing users a simple browser to surf the internet and a safe online transaction technology called Secure Sockets Layer.

History of ecommerce is unthinkable without Amazon and Ebay which were among the first Internet companies to allow electronic transactions in the year 1995. Currently there are 5 largest and most famous worldwide Internet retailers: Amazon, Dell, Staples, Office Depot and Hewlett Packard. One more company which has contributed much to the process of ecommerce development is Dell. The company’s unique strategy of selling goods over the World Wide Web with no retail outlets and no middlemen has been admired by a lot of customers and imitated by a great number of ecommerce businesses. The key factor of Dell’s success is that Dell.com enables customers to choose and to control.

In year 1998, development of security protocols such as HTTP and Digital Subsciber Line (DSL) which allowed rapid access and a persistent connection to the internet. In fact, people will spend more time online. In year 1999, the e-commerce shifted from business-to-consumer to business-to-business. According to Business.com, Retail spending over the Internet reaches $20 billion.

In year 2000, there is a dot-com burst and make numbers of e-commerce companies shut down. Not only that, it created a stock market bubble (in financial markets term applied to arise or boom in the share prices of stocks of a particular industry). The bubble caused an overvaluation of the company.

In year 2001, the e-commerce shifted from business-to-business to business-to-exchange. After the dot-com collapse in the end of 2001, people learn from failure and make the largest from e-commerce, B2B model had around $700 billion in transaction.

Links:

http://newmedia.medill.northwestern.edu/courses/nmpspring01/brown/Revstream/history.htm

http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/E-Commerce

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall01/hanson/