Prevention of hacking
Like all of the other risks that are spoken about here, we have already covered them in detail earlier in the work. Hackingis a very serious risk, which with the right precautions can be easily dealt with. Always ensure you have a firewall in place, which will be spoken about in detail below this paragraph. On top of this, ensuring your ports are closed will completely negate security risks which can lead to hacking, as keeping them often will leave your business exposed.
Viruses
A computer virus is a malware program, which is something you should already know about. Viruses can be dealt with in several different ways, the most popular and effective way being installing Anti-Virus. Anti-virus protects your computer/business from a wide variety of threats, including viruses and other types of dangerous malware. Most anti-virus also includes firewall which basically deflects any dangerous files/data that is sent to your PC.
Identity Theft
Identity theft is a real big issue in the world at the moment, being at the forefront of problems faced by organisations and users alike around the world. One way to overcome this issue however is to simply strengthen passwords and PINs. A stronger password is usually one consisting of at least one of the following; Upper-case and Lower-case letters, numbers and other random symbols found on a keyboards. Identity theft can also occur through the implication of spyware or a key logger on to your PC; as a result simply keeping your PC protected at all times can significantly reduce this risk.
Firewall Impact on Site Performance
Although firewalls protect ones PC from hackers and malicious software alike, they can at times put significant strain on a PC’s resources, which in turn can affect an organisations site performance. This is more likely the case with a website that does not have a valid security certificate.. This can be halted significantly by changing your firewall providers or making sure you only have one firewall active as having two different firewalls active at the same time can be detrimental to the performance of your performance.
SSL
Secure Sockets Layer, SSL, is a cryptographic protocol which is designed to provide security to communication over the internet. They use X.509 certificates and hence asymmetric cryptography to assure the other party who they are communicating with, and to exchange a symmetric key. That session key is then used to encrypt data flowing between the 2 parties.
HTTPS
Short for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, HTTPS is a communications protocol for secure communication over a computer network. Technically speaking, HTTPS is not a protocol in itself, it is actually the result of layering the HTTP protocol on top of the SSL/TLS protocol, therefore adding the security capabilities of SSL/TLS to the standard HTTP communication. The main motivation for using this system is to prevent ‘wiretapping’ and ‘man-in-the-middle attacks’.
RSA Certificates
RSA Certificates are used to identify both the sender and the recipient; it is basically to confirm that both parties involved are trusted and not dangerous in any way. It is a method of coding information so that people can be identified by a digital certificate alongside another digital signature.
Strong Passwords
As already mentioned in the identity theft section of this leaflet, you will already have a good idea of what a strong password entails. A strong password substantially lowers the risk of an unauthorised risk, such as a person hacking into an account of yours. As such, a weak password makes it a lot easier for people to unlawfully access your account. A good password must contain letters and numbers, capital and lower case letters and have at least 8 characters.
Alternative Authentication Methods
Digital signatures are examples of different authentication methods. A digital signature will have several advantages, such as allowing people to authenticate documents over the internet i.e. a person making up a direct debit account would need to wait for paperwork to arrive so that they can sign the documents but digital signatures easy and quick to use and can also authenticate important documents immediately.

Prevention of hacking
Like all of the other risks that are spoken about here, we have already covered them in detail earlier in the work. Hackingis a very serious risk, which with the right precautions can be easily dealt with. Always ensure you have a firewall in place, which will be spoken about in detail below this paragraph. On top of this, ensuring your ports are closed will completely negate security risks which can lead to hacking, as keeping them often will leave your business exposed.
Viruses
A computer virus is a malware program, which is something you should already know about. Viruses can be dealt with in several different ways, the most popular and effective way being installing Anti-Virus. Anti-virus protects your computer/business from a wide variety of threats, including viruses and other types of dangerous malware. Most anti-virus also includes firewall which basically deflects any dangerous files/data that is sent to your PC.
Identity Theft
Identity theft is a real big issue in the world at the moment, being at the forefront of problems faced by organisations and users alike around the world. One way to overcome this issue however is to simply strengthen passwords and PINs. A stronger password is usually one consisting of at least one of the following; Upper-case and Lower-case letters, numbers and other random symbols found on a keyboards. Identity theft can also occur through the implication of spyware or a key logger on to your PC; as a result simply keeping your PC protected at all times can significantly reduce this risk.
Firewall Impact on Site Performance
Although firewalls protect ones PC from hackers and malicious software alike, they can at times put significant strain on a PC’s resources, which in turn can affect an organisations site performance. This is more likely the case with a website that does not have a valid security certificate.. This can be halted significantly by changing your firewall providers or making sure you only have one firewall active as having two different firewalls active at the same time can be detrimental to the performance of your performance.
SSL
Secure Sockets Layer, SSL, is a cryptographic protocol which is designed to provide security to communication over the internet. They use X.509 certificates and hence asymmetric cryptography to assure the other party who they are communicating with, and to exchange a symmetric key. That session key is then used to encrypt data flowing between the 2 parties.
HTTPS
Short for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, HTTPS is a communications protocol for secure communication over a computer network. Technically speaking, HTTPS is not a protocol in itself, it is actually the result of layering the HTTP protocol on top of the SSL/TLS protocol, therefore adding the security capabilities of SSL/TLS to the standard HTTP communication. The main motivation for using this system is to prevent ‘wiretapping’ and ‘man-in-the-middle attacks’.
RSA Certificates
RSA Certificates are used to identify both the sender and the recipient; it is basically to confirm that both parties involved are trusted and not dangerous in any way. It is a method of coding information so that people can be identified by a digital certificate alongside another digital signature.
Strong Passwords
As already mentioned in the identity theft section of this leaflet, you will already have a good idea of what a strong password entails. A strong password substantially lowers the risk of an unauthorised risk, such as a person hacking into an account of yours. As such, a weak password makes it a lot easier for people to unlawfully access your account. A good password must contain letters and numbers, capital and lower case letters and have at least 8 characters.
Alternative Authentication Methods
Digital signatures are examples of different authentication methods. A digital signature will have several advantages, such as allowing people to authenticate documents over the internet i.e. a person making up a direct debit account would need to wait for paperwork to arrive so that they can sign the documents but digital signatures easy and quick to use and can also authenticate important documents immediately.

Having already spoken about several risks posed when starting a new E-commerce venture, dealing with them is a completely different matter, because of that, we are going to talk about many different ways you can handle a risk, should it ever come to that situation. This includes such things as; prevention of hacking; Viruses; Identity theft; Firewall impact on site performance; SSL; HTTPS; RSA certificates; Strong passwords and Alternative authentication methods.
Having already spoken about several risks posed when starting a new E-commerce venture, dealing with them is a completely different matter, because of that, we are going to talk about many different ways you can handle a risk, should it ever come to that situation. This includes such things as; prevention of hacking; Viruses; Identity theft; Firewall impact on site performance; SSL; HTTPS; RSA certificates; Strong passwords and Alternative authentication methods.
M2 – Discuss how security issues in E-commerce can be overcome
M2 – Discuss how security issues in E-commerce can be overcome

There are many different ways in which a business can promote a specific E-commerce system. Around the clock can use varied methods that include; effective use of search engines; paying for prominence in search result listing; newsgroups and forums; banners and pop-ups; spam; site names; direct marketing; ensuring an effective user interface and establishing customer loyalty in a virtual environment.

There are many different ways in which a business can promote a specific E-commerce system. Around the clock can use varied methods that include; effective use of search engines; paying for prominence in search result listing; newsgroups and forums; banners and pop-ups; spam; site names; direct marketing; ensuring an effective user interface and establishing customer loyalty in a virtual environment.

Around The Clock
Around The Clock
Search Engines
Search engines are a very popular way of getting your business better known amongst internet users, as well as increasing the amount of viewers to the website. This is done through the implication of Meta tags and spiders. A Meta tag is page data that is placed between the opening and closing head tags on the html code of a document. Meta Tags essentially make it easier for a potential customer to find your website, as you tag keywords to the HTML code i.e. Clocks or Timepiece for your business, Around the Clock. Spiders work with Meta tags and essentially fetch a webpage for a user. Using these Meta tags, it allows a user to see your website a lot more often as the spider moves websites with similar Meta tags up to the top of the search page.
Banners and Pop-Ups
Your business could pay another website to display advertisements on their website in the form of embedded banners located at the top of a web page and ‘pop-ups’ that literally pop-up in a new window. As in the early stages, it is all about exposure, this is useful and effective form of promotion.
Paying for prominence in search result listings
This is simply what it says on the tin. To be more prominent in search listings on many different search engines such as Google and Yahoo you could pay these search engines to make you appear closer to the top of a search result, which combined with Meta tags and multiple site names can increase your presence in search results ten-fold.
Spam
Yes, Spam…… The first thing that comes to any persons mind when dealing with spam is junk. However, it is actually a very effective method of promoting your e-commerce endeavour with ease. Creating a spam email to be sent via the web or a spam letter to be delivered directly to a person’s door really increased the exposure of the business, simply because it allows thousands, if not millions to be contacted at the click of a button.
Site Names
Another no brainer here, again this mainly impacts search results. If your business Around the Clock only had one URL, it would be a lot more difficult for a potential customer to find your website. Because of this, multiple site names are necessary if you really want your business to succeed, as it not only increases exposure but negates competition that may be looking to get a hand over your business by purchasing a site name similar to yours.
Direct Marketing
One of the most pivotal forms of promotion, direct marketing allows a business to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques that can include cell phone text messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, database marketing, fliers, catalogue distribution, promotional letters, targeted television commercials, response-generating newspaper/magazine advertisements, and outdoor advertising. It is simply the company directly contacting the potential customer with various promotions, deals and other important information.
Newsgroups & Forums
Another effective yet not very popular method is going on to many different newsgroups and forums and spreading your business essentially by word of mouth. Although this method can be very time consuming, with patience it can be very useful.
Ensuring an effective user interface
If you accessed a website that had over-sized text and all of the buttons were overlapping on the page and you genuinely found it difficult to work your way around the webpage, are you likely to visit it again? I thought so…… This is pivotal to your success as a business. An effective user interface does not mean you have to go out of your own way to pay a web designer to create a high rated user interface, it simply means make it simple yet effective i.e. not too much text and colourful webpages.

Search Engines
Search engines are a very popular way of getting your business better known amongst internet users, as well as increasing the amount of viewers to the website. This is done through the implication of Meta tags and spiders. A Meta tag is page data that is placed between the opening and closing head tags on the html code of a document. Meta Tags essentially make it easier for a potential customer to find your website, as you tag keywords to the HTML code i.e. Clocks or Timepiece for your business, Around the Clock. Spiders work with Meta tags and essentially fetch a webpage for a user. Using these Meta tags, it allows a user to see your website a lot more often as the spider moves websites with similar Meta tags up to the top of the search page.
Banners and Pop-Ups
Your business could pay another website to display advertisements on their website in the form of embedded banners located at the top of a web page and ‘pop-ups’ that literally pop-up in a new window. As in the early stages, it is all about exposure, this is useful and effective form of promotion.
Paying for prominence in search result listings
This is simply what it says on the tin. To be more prominent in search listings on many different search engines such as Google and Yahoo you could pay these search engines to make you appear closer to the top of a search result, which combined with Meta tags and multiple site names can increase your presence in search results ten-fold.
Spam
Yes, Spam…… The first thing that comes to any persons mind when dealing with spam is junk. However, it is actually a very effective method of promoting your e-commerce endeavour with ease. Creating a spam email to be sent via the web or a spam letter to be delivered directly to a person’s door really increased the exposure of the business, simply because it allows thousands, if not millions to be contacted at the click of a button.
Site Names
Another no brainer here, again this mainly impacts search results. If your business Around the Clock only had one URL, it would be a lot more difficult for a potential customer to find your website. Because of this, multiple site names are necessary if you really want your business to succeed, as it not only increases exposure but negates competition that may be looking to get a hand over your business by purchasing a site name similar to yours.
Direct Marketing
One of the most pivotal forms of promotion, direct marketing allows a business to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques that can include cell phone text messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, database marketing, fliers, catalogue distribution, promotional letters, targeted television commercials, response-generating newspaper/magazine advertisements, and outdoor advertising. It is simply the company directly contacting the potential customer with various promotions, deals and other important information.
Newsgroups & Forums
Another effective yet not very popular method is going on to many different newsgroups and forums and spreading your business essentially by word of mouth. Although this method can be very time consuming, with patience it can be very useful.
Ensuring an effective user interface
If you accessed a website that had over-sized text and all of the buttons were overlapping on the page and you genuinely found it difficult to work your way around the webpage, are you likely to visit it again? I thought so…… This is pivotal to your success as a business. An effective user interface does not mean you have to go out of your own way to pay a web designer to create a high rated user interface, it simply means make it simple yet effective i.e. not too much text and colourful webpages.

Unit 8 – E-commerce
Unit 8 – E-commerce
M1 – Recommend methods to promote an E-commerce system
M1 – Recommend methods to promote an E-commerce system