Security and Privacy in Bussiness

Many businesses in today’s commercial environment have adopted the use of technology, such as the Internet, to support e-commerce. Nonetheless, due of the increasing number of cyberattacks and data breaches, cybersecurity has emerged as a major worry in e-commerce. As a result, it has pushed firms and governments to devise ways to strengthen the security and privacy of e-commerce networks (Toch, Wang & Cranor, 2012). Furthermore, the measure is meant to make it more difficult for hackers to disrupt or threaten enterprises and information rights. The article will review previous research on the privacy and security of e-commerce enterprises. A study conducted by Wu, Huang, Yen & Popova, (2012) noted that between 2015 and 2020, the world would witness more than five billion people using the internet to do business. Most of these will be in the developing nations such as in Africa. Meanwhile they will use their smartphones and feature phones to engage their financial institutions. Therefore, the researchers argued that personal privacy will play a critical part in guaranteeing their survival in both online and offline. For instance, the contribution of the Internet to Africa’s GDP by 2025 will increase to approximately 5-6 percent leading to enhanced public services delivery (Wu, Huang, Yen & Popova, 2012). More importantly, the study noted that in such countries, censorship or breach in privacy to crucial data that could be life threatening.

Toch, Wang & Cranor, (2012) argued that the amount of information stored under e-commerce would increase tremendously in the next decade. Therefore, it would be prudent for business to pursue privacy protection and security as the customer remains committed to digitize all factors in their lives. Regrettably, most of the companies offering solutions to Internet privacy and security provide cumbersome and complex resolutions hence many customers are unwilling to utilize (Toch, Wang & Cranor, 2012). The solutions are also very much complicated which discourages the users. According to Chen & Zhao, (2012) the challenge for security firms is to establish solutions that can be quickly embraced into the daily life. Therefore, the researcher recommended that government should reinforce the Internet policies and infrastructures that enhance privacy and access. Additionally, the government and business community should encourage legislation and policy, which enhances access and privacy of information over the internet in the e-commerce world (Chen & Zhao, 2012).

According to Toch, Wang & Cranor, (2012) organizations serving their customers through the e-commerce mechanism should ensure that privacy and security measures are simple and universal as well as known by all. In so doing, the corporate world will have the capacity to safeguard one of the paramount innovations in the century, the Internet. It will also ensure that all customers using e-commerce systems can prosper (Toch, Wang & Cranor, 2012).

Failure to comply

A research by Wu, Huang, Yen & Popova, (2012) noted that most of the customers using e-commerce platforms do not comply with the security measures set by organizations because they are not aware of their susceptibility to cybercrime. In addition, although there are weaknesses in e-commerce most instances take place because of negligence of the consumers (Wu, Huang, Yen & Popova, 2012). In a number of occasions, websites have offered security warranties but because of lack of awareness, the clients become victims of fraudulent attackers over the internet. Chen & Zhao, (2012) claimed that it is challenging to create customer trust on things that are impersonal and virtual. The study also revealed that customers without knowledge on e-commerce are more likely to be non-compliant. Therefore, organizations dealing with e-commerce should invest in customer education aiming to improve their trust, satisfaction and noncompliance (Chen & Zhao, 2012).

Recommendations

Organization must pay close attention on data security and privacy especially on e-commerce. For instance, website proprietors must ensure that their websites are endorsed and certified by Information Technology (IT) experts, which will provide an edge in acquiring consumer confidence in these systems. Furthermore, e-commerce systems must have a robust security infrastructure (Toch, Wang & Cranor, 2012). Similarly, these security measures must be displayed on the consumer interface to inspire confidence among the customers. Moreover, the privacy and security should be guaranteed by ensuring that hackers cannot access or alter the customer data. The providers of website hosts must maintain their servers and operating systems in updated versions possessing modern patches. Chen & Zhao, (2012) recommended that if any software is set up, it must be installed with necessary access.

In most cases, there are a number of loopholes, which give an opportunity of intruders to interfere with the customers’ sensitive information. In this regard, in cases where the website is offering rule base admissions, adequate precaution must be introduced to combat any loose ends by intruders (Chen & Zhao, 2012). Similarly, e-commerce websites must have devices to detect when the systems are compromised. The company should invest in creating awareness among customers on privacy systems, e-commerce security and internet. Finally, sufficient preventive measures should be designed to control the attacks (Wu, Huang, Yen & Popova, 2012).

Conclusion

In the past decade, the world has witnessed unprecedented use of the Internet especially in e-commerce. The internet revolution has witnessed both strengths and weaknesses (Toch, Wang & Cranor, 2012). More importantly, susceptibility of privacy and security of customer personal data has become one of the weaknesses of the Internet. In this regard, hackers can interfere with and compromise the privacy of customers (Wu, Huang, Yen & Popova, 2012). Therefore, organizations should ensure that appropriate security features are in place to avoid breach of privacy.

References

Chen, D., & Zhao, H. (2012, March). Data security and privacy protection issues in cloud computing. In Computer Science and Electronics Engineering (ICCSEE), 2012 International Conference on (Vol. 1, pp. 647-651). IEEE.

Toch, E., Wang, Y., & Cranor, L. F. (2012). Personalization and privacy: a survey of privacy risks and remedies in personalization-based systems. User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction, 22(1), 203-220.

Wu, K. W., Huang, S. Y., Yen, D. C., & Popova, I. (2012). The effect of online privacy policy on consumer privacy concern and trust. Computers in human behavior, 28(3), 889-897.