BC1613 - ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

L T P C
3 0 0 3
UNIT I INTRODUCTION 6
Networks and Commercial Transactions - Internet and Other Novelties - Electronic Transactions
Today - Commercial Transactions - Establishing Trust - Internet Environment - Internet Advantage -
World Wide Web.
UNIT II SECURITY TECHNOLOGIES 9
Why Internet is Unsecure - Internet Security Holes - Cryptography : Objective - Codes and Ciphers -
Breaking Encryption Schemes - Data Encryption Standard - Trusted Key Distribution and Verification -
Cryptographic Applications - Encryption - Digital Signature - Non repudiation and Message Integrity.
UNIT III ELECTRONIC PAYMENT METHODS 9
Traditional Transactions : Updating - Offline and Online Transactions - Secure Web Servers -
Required Facilities - Digital Currencies and Payment Systems - Protocols for the Public Transport -
Security Protocols - SET - Credit Card Business Basics.
UNIT IV ELECTRONIC COMMERCE PROVIDERS 9
Online Commerce Options - Functions and Features - Payment Systems : Electronic, Digital and
Virtual Internet Payment System - Account Setup and Costs - Virtual Transaction Process - Info Haus
- Security Considerations - Cyber Cash: Model - Security - Customer Protection - Client Application -
Selling through Cyber Cash.
UNIT V ONLINE COMMERCE ENVIRONMENTS 12
Servers and Commercial Environments - Payment Methods - Server Market Orientation - Netscape
Commerce Server - Microsoft Internet Servers - Digital Currencies - DigiCash - Using Ecash - Ecash
Client Software and Implementation - Smart Cards - The Chip - Electronic Data Interchange - Internet
Strategies, Techniques and Tools.
Total Periods : 45
REFERENCES
1. Pete Loshin, "Electronic Commerce", 4th Edition, Firewall media, An imprint of Laxmi
Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2004.
2. Ravi Kalakota , Andrew B.Winston, "E-Commerce" Pearson Education, 2004.
3. Jeffrey F.Rayport and Bernard J. Jaworski, "Introduction to E-Commerce", 2nd Edition, Tata
Mc-Graw Hill Pvt., Ltd., 2003.
4 P.T. Joseph, "E-Commerce - A Managerial Perspective", PHI, 2003.
5. Greenstein, "Electronic Commerce", Tata Mc-Graw Hill Pvt., Ltd., 2000.
-ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
INTRODUCTIONNetworks and Commercial Transactions Internet and Other novelties Electronic
Transactions Today Commercial Transactions Establishing Trust Internet Environment Internet
Advantage World Wide Web

Internet
No world wide organization running the Internet.Rules have to be followed which is defined by standard
bodies.

Network
Network is an Interconnection of Computers

Commerce
Commerce is a division of tradeor productionwhich deals with the
exchangeof goodsandservicesfrom producer to finalconsumer . It comprises the trading of something
of economic value such asgoods, services,informationor money between two or more entities.

E- Commerce
The marketing buying and selling of products and services over electronicsystems such as the Internet and
other computer networks.

"Electronic commerce" or "e-commerce" refers to all commercial transactions in which one or more of the
following stages are processed electronically:

Dangers associated with electronic commerce

One of the distinguishing features of e-commerce is use of the internet. Themain problems can be broken
down into three areas:
Communication:
In open networks communications can pass through many nodal points. Theuser does not know how well
messages are protected by other systems or network operators and there is a wide range of opportunities
to read and/or tamper with the communication.
Component security:
All the components which are connected to the internet - whether auser PC or a retailer's server - must be
adequately protected against possible attacks, including against local attacks. The insiders also
causegreatest danger to the companys data for the reason of the personal gain.
Establishment of identity
:Another security aspect of e-commerce systems is the unequivocalestablishment of the identity of the
persons one is communicating with.Similarly, it is easy to falsify the name that appears as the sender of an
e-mail.Therefore additional measures must be taken for mutual identification andauthentication.
Benefits of e-commerce
E-commerce offers following benefits to the companies:

Reduction in cost due to1.Cheaper Internet prices.2.Less paper work involved due to digitization of
information.3.Reusing the digitized information in many different ways. E.g.catalog data stored in database
can be presented electronicallyvia web and also it can be printed in customized catalogstargeted at specific
market niches.4.Reduction in support staff. E.g. compiling and publishingFrequently Ask Questions (FAQ)
can help user to get theanswer to these questions at their finger tips 24 hrs a day, 7days a week.

- 3 -ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
5.Outsourcing of products and services globally.

Improving the quality of goodsDirect contact with customers can help trackingcustomer satisfaction,
requesting more customer feedback and presenting custom solutions.

Increase in the speed of servicesBecause all the information is available right atfingertips, and because
only one medium is involved,everything right form advertising, marketing, purchasingto customer support
can be done at the fastest rate.

Increase in the market shareIt opens avenues for new markets and new customers.E.g. by expanding the
business globally.
Electronic commerce on different Perspectives (viewpoint)From a Communication Perspective :
E-Commerce is the ability todeliver products , services, information or payments via networks such asthe
Internet and World Wide Web
From an Interface Perspective:
E-Commerce involves various informationand transaction exchanges Business to Business, business to
consumer,consumer to consumer
From a Business process Perspective :
E-commerce includes activitiesthat directly support commerce electronically by means of
networkedconnections
From an Online Perspective :
E-commerce is an electronic environmentthat makes it possible to buy and sell products, services and
information onthe Internet. The products may be physical such as cars or services such asnews or
consulting.
From a Structural Perspective :
E-commerce involves various media datatext, web pages, Internet telephony or IP telephony or voice over
theInternet.
VOI Products (Voice over the Internet)Telephony applications:

IP connections available

Cool talk

NetMeeting
From a Market Perspective :
E-commerce is a world wide network for doing business.
INTERNET AND OTHER NOVELTIES

- 4 -ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
Customer can gain access to an Internet merchants system across theInternet without having to know
anything about the intervening NetworksStandard representation of the Internet is the Cloud to stress the
fact thatthere is something going between systems communicating across theInternet.The something
encompasses any number of intermediate computersand networks. There are standard bodies for both
network who defines the protocols to be used by anyone connecting to those network. If the rules
are properly implemented then the telephone or computer will be able to passsignals to and from the
network.
E-COMMERCE DRIVERS
Drivers promote E- Commerce.1.Digital Convergence All digital devices can communicate with
oneanother. Video,film,documents,voice,data.2.Anytime anywhere anyone- 24/7.It ties together the
industrialsector,merchants,the service sector,3.Changes in organizationi.downsizing of large
organizationii.outsourcing of specialized tasksiii.encouraging cross functional business processall require
better communications.4.Widespread access to ITThe exponential increase in the number of PCs world
wide meansgreater for information and communication for business.5.Increase pressure on operating costs
and profit margins globalcompany of products.6.Demand for customized products and servicesorganization
should go with the choice of the customers. Customersexpect better quality and performance. If the firm
does move with thetrend they will fail.
NETWORKS AND ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS TODAY
While considering online commerce, it is important to maintain1.PerspectiveCustomer MerchantTheInternet

- 5 -ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
2.Define a context (circumstance)
Earlier Days

Broadcasting network, particularly television was used to market products (but orders cannot be placed
using television) one wayapproach.

Telephone lines were used for many by consumers and merchants for business transactions(placing
orders,etc)

Payments have been made using credit cards and cheques, etc.

Highly sensitive business transactions have been processed throughATM network.

Present Days
Buying and selling of products in electronic market place will be as simpleand trusted as buying by phone
or in person.
A MODEL FOR COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS
There will be differences between different types of transactions. Largecorporation buys raw material from
its supplier is different from a childgetting a candy from corner store.
Some issues involved in E- Commerce:
Establishing Trust
Retail Store

Before purchase can be made from a retail store, a customer mustenter it.

Most shops are open to public and customer can walk in.

Merchant may control access to the goods it offers in several ways

It can sell to all comers through an open store front

Selling to a certain clientele (wholesalers selling to resellersonly)

Doing business only with referred customers.

Degree of restrictions a merchant make on his product will dependupon his business.
o
An automobile ask for license before a test drive
o
Book store dont mind strangers browsing through their books.

Customer choice of doing a transaction(buying a product)

Whether the establishment carries the product being sought.

Is it reliable establishment?

- 6 -ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

Payment method displayed on the stickers of the door(onecriteria)Both customer and merchant each
establish a level of trust with eachother.

After confinement from both parties a higher level of trust is required.

Issues Concerned By Both Buyer And Seller
Many products have distribution limits(to whom It can be given and whomnot)e.g.

Prescription drugs may not be dispensed to anyone without alegitimate prescription.

Alcoholic beverages may not be sold to minors and may besubject to other sales restrictions.(National
holiday not to be sold)

Firearms and Ammunition are subject to a wide range of restrictions

Tobacco-not to minors.Establishing trust between partners in a commercial transaction taking placing in

public network is very difficult.
Merchant

Merchant can judge in person during transaction(an oldmanwhitehaired customer not to show any ID to buy
a six pack of beer)

Online transaction offers no opportunity for judgement.

Correlating identities on the Internet with actual individuals isdifficult.

E-Merchants cannot afford to trust everyone or even anyone.

Customer

How long a webpage of a company will exist?

Constructing a counterfeit webpage representing itself as a part of large corporation

- 7 -ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
Trust is required between buyers and sellers.
Negotiating A Deal (Try To Reach An Agreement By Discussion)
Trivial matters in retail stores1.Determining the item to be purchased.2.Price to be charged.
Common method adopted:
1.Selects the desired item.2.Price clearly marked in the product.3.Desired product not available (color, size,
flavor version is not instock)4.Retailer may have to order the product or offer an alternative deal.5.Special
price is also applied for products that are special but out of stock.
Ordering products over the Internet does not offer
a.An explicit method to reference the offering price
b.Nor an explicit method to reference the original order.
Payment & Settlement
Heart of any transaction is the exchange of values(Money).
Normal Procedure
1.Purchase item in person.2.Buyers give a cash or cheques or credit card.3.Receives the product in return
and a receipt.Translating these actions into electronic form takes some procedures.There are mechanisms
which allow payment information to be kept private by encrypting it by keeping it entirely offline or by using
third partie
tosettle transactions.In Internet transactions

- 8 -ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
1.Unless product available digitally, the buyer has to trust the seller until goods are delivered.2.Customer
can avoid problems by patronizing trusted Internetvendors (a person giving financial or other support to a
person or organization)3.To use a major credit card company that will back up theconsumer in the event of
a problem with the vendor.
Vendor takes smaller risk. When selling online since credit cards areauthenticated through automated
connections.Payment vehicles and currencies:
A great deal of attention is focused on the online transaction.The offline buyer has many options for
transaction exchanges.1.Common are cash2.Providing an audit trial and a paper record of thetransaction(
Personal check)(Claim of petrol allowance)3.Credit cardsE-Com1.Digital currencies are developed.2.Digital
signature technologies permit the authentication andcertification of digital transmitted documents.
Products of delivery:
1.Any products, food football or even a computer can be delivered physically to the customer.2.Greater
level of trust is required between merchant and customer.3.Customer must wait until the product is
delivered.
- 9 -ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
Digital products:Digital products that can be delivered electronically are being soldelectronically.
Online Accessibility and Sale of Various Digital Products
Information products such as news articles information from databases andother traditional text or data and
all can be delivered immediately after purchase over a network connection.
S/W Example of Digital Product
Some vendors want to ensure that a third party cannot eaves drop on the product transaction and gain use
of the material being sold without payingfor it
THE INTERNET ENVIRONMENTS
On the personal side, Internet is growing power they had never before.Email, Message goes quickly and
cost is almost zero.On the business side, the rise of the Internet as the enabler of E-Commerce is changing
how companies manage their business.The Internet is the1.Fastest growing2.Most user Friendly3.Most
commercially popular technology.
Advantages of Internet
News paper, 100,100Digitised Photo,300, 350Book (no Photo),400, 600music CD, 375,700Full Movie,
750,900S/W, 1000, 80001002003004005006007008009001000020040060080010001200
News paperDigitised PhotoBook (no Photo)music CDFull MovieS/W
`

- 10 -ELECTRONIC COMMERCE1. Marketing and selling products and services:

1.Advertisement reaching customers quickly and cheaply.2.Reaching any one anywhere without paying
extra for distance or duration.3.The Internet is host thousands of electronic publications that provide
promotional opportunities for any business.4.Website attracts millions of readers on a daily
basis.5.Company use Internet to send email mass mailing to customer surveys are send to selected
customers, notices about specialcases.6.Electronic media are also much easier to update.
2. Internet is open
1.All the Internet protocols are open and public and any one can usethem to write s/w implementations that
can interoperate withother computers and network.2.A wide range of implementation available from free
ware andshare ware versions of the Internet.
3. Doing business fast
1.E-Selling is conducted in minutes rather than hours/days.2.Waiting on phone to place order is
reduced.3.This speed compresses business processes and promotes thegrowth of a customer base.
4. Gathering opinions and trying out new ideas:
1.Internet is the ideal place for trying out new ideas at low cost.2.Opinions can be gathered from anywhere.
5. Promoting a paper free environment:
1.Company memos, handbook, catalogs, promotional material,employee handbook, report can be placed
on the company intranetand retrieved or circulated electronically anytime by authorized personnel.
6. Providing a superior customer service and support resource
1.Most websites generate customer feed back in the way of comments, suggestions and complaints.2.A
common support resource is FAQ (Frequently Asked Question).3.A FAQ eliminates having staff answer the
same questions over and over again.4.If a new question comes the answer is added to the list.

- 11 -ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
5.Using email, customer support also frees company personnel from being tied to a telephone.
7. Efficiency and unequaled cost effectiveness
1.Major corporation are spending hundreds of million of dollars onsales promotion.2.Cost of establishing
and maintaining even sophisticated websitefor that purpose is affordable.
8. Supporting Managerial functions, spreading ideas, Ease of Technicalsupport
The traditional managerial function of 1.Planning2.Organizing3.Directing4.ControllingAll the above requires
managers to

Collect

Evaluate

Distribute management informationIn organization with branches worldwide,1.Internet sends business

information through a companys network and across network around the globe.2.Email is convenient tool
for managers to reach employees, bosses,customers and supplies quickly and at no charge.3.The Internet
has spawned discussion groups chat rooms, andonline interactive session in which technical and
managerial staff evaluates products and processes and arrives at value addeddecisions.4.Better technical
support is one of the key benefits of linking tothe Internet.ExampleIBM offers customers and technical
support fixes bugs and handlessoftware upgrades on the Internet.1000 of free software programs available
for anyone to download.

Internet continues to deliver thousand of database of research datafrom medicine, vehicles, and food
preparation to hundreds of R&Ddiscussion group.

For thousands of research journals, automated searches throughcurrent and back issues are available in
minutes.

Company research, they uses Internet to seek information aboutcustomer tastes and preferences to profile
a customer base for a new product or test a new concept to see if it is worth developing.

- 12 -ELECTRONIC COMMERCE9. Triggering New Businesses

Given the world wide networking of business and commerce, mere presence is bound to trigger one type of
business activity or another.Eg.

Tiny commercial filter makes in Lynchburg Virginia landed $6million contract with government of Saudi
arabia from the Internet.

A startup company owned by students generated $11 million inrevenues in 1999 from selling used books
nationwide.Internet is truly moving from novelty to necessity.
Limitations
1.Security & privacy2.Fakes & forgeries3.Other threats (Hackers, worms, viruses, Trojan horse)
WORLD WIDE WEB
World wide web is the fastest1.growing market place.2.Research facility3.Communication tools in the
world.
Internet:
It is an infrastructure that links hundreds and thousands of network to one another.
World Wide Web:
It is the whole constellation of resources that can be accessed usingtools such as FTP,HTTP and
TELNET.An organization of files designed around a group of servers on theInternet, programmed to handle
requests from browser software that resideson user pcs.1.World wide web is not limited to text & graphics,
listening of Audio&video files is also possible.2.Users must first download the file and then use a s/w
application to playthe file.TCP/IP- A set of protocols that provide the basis for operating the Internet.TCP/IP
does not include any ability to control the speed or consultancy atwhich information is transferred. Some
packets may more quickly whileother are slowed down because of congestion at a particular network site.
- 13 -ELECTRONIC COMMERCEStreaming Technology
has provided an adequate but far from idealsolution to the audio and video streaming application begin
playing the fileas it is being downloaded rather than waiting until the entire file isreceived. This means that
the user does not have to wait for the file to thecompletely downloaded.
WORLD WIDE WEB STANDARDS
1.The www is defined by handful of protocol specifications.2.Software developers use these specifications
to implements theweb browser & web server programs.3. browser

HTTP

Server. Interaction between server and browser are made through HTTP. www is a client server
system.Content is held by web servers and requested by clients of web browsers.4.URL(Uniform Resource
Locator) protocol specifies howindividual resources( files, documents or even a specific locationof a
document) are to be identified with www.5.Web browsers use these URL in HTTP requests to remote
servers.6.Web documents stored on the server that have been speciallytagged using HTML tags.7.Tags
allows different parts of a document to behave differently.Most important are the abilities of text & graphics
to behave as pointers to other parts of a document.
Web Page:
A document on the web is called a webpage.
Home Page:
The first page in a series of related documents or a site is called ahomepage.
Browser:
A browser is a software program loaded on a pc that allows the user to read or access information stored
on the Internet.It is a vehicle that enables the user to interface with the Internet.The browser takes the user
instructions and converts them into alanguage and a format that can be sent to remote site and executed.
Web server:
A web server is the destination point on the Internet to offer webservices, a computer must be connected to
the Internet, be running awebserver program and have web documents available.

the purpose of a network

A network is a collection of computers and devices connected together via communications

devices, such as a modem, and communications media, such as cables, telephone lines,
cellular radio, and satellites. Networks allow users to share resources, such as hardware
devices, software devices, data, and information. Most business computers are networked,
either by a local area network (LAN) in a limited geographic area or by a wide area network
(WAN) in a large geographical area.

the uses of the Internet and the World Wide Web

The worlds largest network is the Internet, which is a worldwide collection of networks that
links together millions of businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, and
individuals. The Internet has had a profound affect on the world of computers. Microsoft
CEO Bill Gates claims, The Internet is pervasive in everything were doing. The Internet
also has assumed an increasing prominence in the world at large. Today, the letters www
seem an omnipresent part of advertisements on buses, billboards, and magazines.

The Internet, as it is known today, was born in 1983 when ARPANET was split into two
interconnected networks: ARPANET and MILNET. The size of the Internet doubled when
NSFnet joined the Internet in 1986.

Users connect to the Internet to send messages, access information, shop for goods and
services, meet or converse with other users, and access sources of entertainment and leisure.
Most users connect to the Internet through an Internet service provider (ISP) or an online
service provider (OSP). The World Wide Web is a popular segment of the Internet that
contains billions of documents called Web pages. These documents can contain text,
graphics, sound, video, and built-in connections, or links, to other Web pages stored on
computers throughout the world.

Understand how a user can be a Web publisher

In addition to being a recipient of information, Internet users have the ability to provide
information to other connected users around the world. Users can create a Web page with
word processing software or with Web page authoring software. Publishing a Web page is
the process of making it available on the Internet.

how the Internet works

The Internet is a worldwide collection of networks that links millions of businesses,

government offices, educational institutions, and individuals. Data is transferred over the
Internet using servers, which are computers that manage network resources and provide
centralized storage areas, and clients, which are computers that can access the contents of the
storage areas. The data travels over communications lines. Each computer or device on a
communications line has a numeric address called an IP (Internet protocol) address, the text
version of which is called a domain name. Every time you specify a domain name, a DNS
(domain name system) server translates the domain name into its associated IP address, so
data can route to the correct computer.

ways to access the Internet

You can access the Internet through an Internet service provider, an online service provider,
or a wireless service provider. An Internet service provider (ISP) provides temporary
Internet connections to individuals and companies. An online service provider (OSP) also
supplies Internet access, in addition to a variety of special content and services. A wireless
service provider (WSP) provides wireless Internet access to users with wireless modems or
Web-enabled handheld computers or devices.

Employees and students often connect to the Internet through a business or school network
that connects to a service provider. For home or small business users, dial-up access provides
an easy and inexpensive way to connect to the Internet. With dial-up access, you use a
computer, a modem, and a regular telephone line to dial into an ISP or OSP. Some home and
small business users opt for newer, high-speed technologies. DSL (digital subscriber line)
provides high-speed connections over a regular copper telephone line. A cable modem
provides high-speed Internet connections through a cable television network.

Identify a URL

The most widely used service on the Internet is the World Wide Web. The World Wide Web
(WWW or Web) consists of a worldwide collection of electronic documents called Web
pages. A browser is a software program used to access and view Web pages. Each Web page
has a unique address, called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), that tells a browser where
to locate the Web page. A URL consists of a protocol, domain name, and sometimes the path
to a specific Web page or location on a Web page. Most URLs begin with http://, which
stands for hypertext transfer protocol, the communications standard that enables pages to
transfer on the Web.

Humans being humans, prefer not to have to rememberIP addresses like "17.112.152.32".
Instead, we'd rather

use a little piece of text like "www.apple.com", which is called a Uniform Resource Locator,
or URL

(pronounced "You-Are-Elle", or sometimes "Earl"). In fact, both 17.112.152.32 and

www.apple.com refer to the

same Internet host: Apple Computer's webserver. Don't believe me? Try just entering
17.112.152.32into a browser

and see where you end up.

URL's are used for more than just websites; they'realso used for e-mail addresses, FTP
servers, network

newsgroups, or any other service running on a computer connected to the Internet.

When we type in a URL, an application-layer servicecalled the Domain Name Service

(DNS)translates the

human-friendly URL into the computer-friendly IP address for us. DNS performs this
translation by consulting

the databases maintained by the Domain Name Registrars. DNS is responsible for translating
"www.apple.com"

into "17.112.152.32" whenever we type that into a browser address bar. DNS is the "phone
book" of the Internet:

look up a name, and find its number.

A URL is made up of many parts. For example, consider the following:

http://www.apple.com/ipod/red/index.html

httpis the application-layer protocol. In this case HTTP, the protocol used by the World
Wide Web. If you

omit the protocol when typing a URL into a browser address box, the browser assumes you
meant "http://".

(Technically, the whole string "http://" is called the scheme.)

www.apple.comis the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN). In turn, the FQDN is made up
of pieces
as well (from right to left, or most general to most specific):

comis the Top Level Domain (TLD), in this case meaning "company" or "commercial".

appleis the specific company name, chosen by Apple Computer.

wwwis the name of the webserver hosting Apple Computer's website.

Search for information on the Web

A search engine is a software program you can use to find Web sites, Web pages, and
Internet files. To find a Web page or pages, you enter a relevant word or phrase, called
search text or keywords, in the search engines text box. Many search engines then use a
program called a spider to read pages on Web sites and create a list of pages that contain the
keywords. Any Web page that is listed as the result of the search is called a hit. Each hit is a
link that can be clicked to display the associated Web site or Web page.

Describe the types of Web pages

There are six basic types of Web pages. An advocacy Web page contains content that
describes a cause, opinion, or idea. A business/marketing Web page contains content that
promotes or sells products or services. An informational Web page contains factual
information. A news Web page contains newsworthy material including stories and articles
relating to current events, life, money, sports, and the weather. A portal Web page offers a
variety of Internet services from a single, convenient location. A personal Web page is
maintained by a private individual who normally is not associated with any organization.

the uses of electronic commerce (e-commerce)

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is a financial business transaction that occurs over an

electronic network such as the Internet. Today, there are three types of e-commerce. Business
to consumer (B-to-B or B2C) e-commerce consists of the sale of goods to the general
public. Customers visit an online business through an electronic storefront, which contains
descriptions, graphics, and a shopping cart that allows customers to collect their purchases.
Consumer to consumer (C-to-C or C2C) e-commerce occurs when one consumer sells
directly to another. An online auction is an example of consumer to consumer e-commerce.
Business to business (B-to-B or B2B) e-commerce, which is the most prevalent type of e-
commerce, takes place between businesses, with businesses typically providing services to
other businesses.

ADVANTAGES OF USING THE INTERNET

There are many advantages of using the Provide Technical Support

Internet, such as : You can also use Web site to
provide technical support to users.

Global Audience
Content published on the World
Wide Web is immediately available
to a global audience of users. This
makes the World Wide Web a very
cost-effective medium to publish
information. Reaching more than
190 countries.
Operates 24 hours, 7 days a
week
You don't need to wait until
resources are available to conduct
business. From a consumer's
perspective as well as a provider's
business can be consummated at
any time. The fact that the Internet
is operational at all times makes it
the most efficient business machine
to date.
Relatively Inexpensive
It is relatively inexpensive to
publish information on the Internet.
At a fraction of the cost to publish
information by traditional methods,
various organizations and
individuals can now distribute
information to millions of users. It
costs only a few thousand dollars to
establish an Internet presence and
publish content on the Internet.
Product Advertising
You can use the World Wide Web
to advertise various products.
Before purchasing a product,
customers will be able to look up
various product specification sheets
and find out additional information.
You can use the multimedia
capabilities of the World Wide
Web to make available not only
various product specification sheets
but also audio files, images, and
even video clips of products in
action. The beauty of the Web is
that it allows customers to explore
products in as much detail as they
desire. If the client just wants a
general overview, he or she can
Because Web pages can be updated
immediately with new
information, various technical
support literature can be
immediately modified in light of
new findings and developments.
This can be accomplished without
having to distribute changes to all
users affected by any changes using
traditional mediums of information
distribution, which are often quite
costly compared to the World Wide
Web.
Create Online Discussion
Forums
By using applications such as
WebBoard, it's possible to set up
online discussion forums on the
Web.
Obtain Customer Feedback
The interactive nature of the World
Wide Web is ideal for obtaining
customer feedback. You can easily
set up a CGI script to obtain
customer feedback about a product
or service. Because customer
feedback submitted by customers
can be read immediately, it's
possible to respond to various
customer concerns in a timely
manner, increasing customer
satisfaction and quality of customer
service.
Immediate Distribution of
Information
When information is added to a
Web site, it's immediately available
for browsing by millions of Internet
users. The World Wide Web is an
ideal medium of information
distribution because it takes away
the time lag associated with
publishing content and actually
making it available to users
Easy Integration with Internal
Information Systems
Internet information systems
 look at the advertising information.
For those wanting more in depth
information, you can provide white
papers and product descriptions for
download. The Web allows a
business to provide timely
information, you can simply place
the information on the Web page
and it is available immediately for
your customers.
Distribute Product Catalogs
The World Wide Web is a very
effective medium for distributing
product catalogs. In the old days,
putting together a product catalog
used to be very costly in terms of
time and money needed to publish
and distribute it. The World Wide
Web changes all this by allowing
content developers to put together a
sales catalog and make it available
to millions of users immediately.
Furthermore, unlike printed
product catalogs that are usually
updated around once a month,
product catalogs on the World
Wide Web can be updated as
needed to respond to various
changing market conditions.
Online Surveys
Traditional methods of performing
surveys are often relatively slow
and expensive compared to online
surveys conducted on the Internet.
For example, in order to fill out
various needs of customers or what
they would like to see in a future
product, it's often necessary to
compile a list of address and mail a
questionnaire to many customers.
The success of such an attempt is
not always guaranteed and can be
very costly in terms of mailing the
questionnaires and entering
responses to a databases and
analyzing it. On the other hand, you
can use the World Wide Web to
automate the whole process. For
example, you can set up a CGI
deployed on the Internet can be
easily integrated with internal
information systems managed with
office productivity applications
such as Microsoft Office.
Powerful Content Publishing
Tools
A new breed of Internet aware
applications will start emerging in
software stores by the time you
read this. These applications will
enable users to develop content for
the World Wide Web by simply
saving as an HTML file. In
addition to software developers
making existing applications
Internet aware, various new,
powerful, and easy-to use Internet
content publishing applications are
also being developed. These
applications will make the task of
publishing content on the Internet
even easier. Most of these
applications are developed for
Windows users.
Multimedia
The capability to incorporate
multimedia into Web pages is a
major advantage of using World
Wide Web to publish information.
For example, many Web sites use
sounds and video clips to make the
content easier and more interesting
to browse.
Formatting Capabilities
Content published on the World
Wide Web can be richly formatted
by using various HTML tags and
graphic formats. The capability to
do this is a major reason for the
success of the World Wide Web. In
addition to using HTML tags and
various multimedia formats in Web
pages, various interactive controls
can also be added to a web page.
This capability allows Web site
content developers to create
"active" Web sites. For example,
before a user sends some
 script to conduct online surveys. information to a Web server for
Results of such a survey can be processing, a VBScript or
automatically updated to a JavaScript subroutine can be used
database. This database can then to verify information typed in by
be used to keep a pulse on various the user. Various formatting
opinions and needs of customers. capabilities, along with
Announcements technologies such as Java and
With the World Wide Web, you VBScript, make the World Wide
can distribute various Web a richly interactive medium
announcements to millions of users that you can use to distribute
in a timely manner. Because there information to millions of users.
is virtually no time lag from the
time it takes to publish information
to making the information available
to users, the Web is an ideal
medium to publicize
announcements. As more people
discover the virtues of the Web and
get connected to the Internet, the
Web will become the medium of
choice for many organizations and
individuals to publicize various
announcements.

References:

http://uwf.edu/clemley/cgs1570w/notes/Concepts-2.htm
References :
Terry Bernstein, Anish B. Bhimani, Eugene Schultz, Carol A. Siegel, Internet Security for Business, Wiley Computer Publishing, John Wiley
& Sons Inc, 1996
Sanjaya Hettihewa, Windows NT 4, Web Development, Sams net, Indianapolis, First Edition, 1996
 E-commerce security

E-commerce security is the protection of e-commerce assets from unauthorized access, use, alteration, or
destruction. While security features do not guarantee a secure system, they are necessary to build a secure
system. Dimensions of E-commerce Security:

1. Integrity The ability to ensure that information being displayed on a web site or transmitted or
received over the internet has not been altered in any way by an unauthorized party.

2. Nonrepudiation The ability to ensure that e-commerce participants do not deny (i.e. repudiate) their
online actions.

3. Authenticity The ability to identify the identity of a person or entity with whom you are dealing in the
internet.

4. Confidentiality The ability to ensure that messages and data are available only to those who are
authorized to view them.
5. Privacy The ability to control the use of information about oneself.

6. Availability The ability to ensure that an e-commerce site continues top function as intended.

E-Commerce Security Tools

Security is an essential part of any transaction that takes place over the internet. Customer will loose
his/her faith in e-business if its security is compromised. The various E-Commerce Security Tools are as
follows:

1. Firewalls Software and Hardware.

2. Public Key infrastructure.

3. Encryption software.

4. Digital certificates.

5. Digital Signatures.

6. Biometrics retinal scan, fingerprints, voice etc.

7. Locks and bars network operations centres.

1. Firewalls Software and Hardware

Firewalls are frequently used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks
connected to the Internet, especially intranets. All messages entering or leaving the intranet pass through
the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the
specified security criteria. Firewalls can be either hardware or software but the ideal firewall configuration
will consist of both. In addition to limiting access to your computer and network, a firewall is also useful
for allowing remote access to a private network through secure authentication certificates and logins.

2. Public Key infrastructure

A public key infrastructure (PKI) supports the distribution and identification of public encryption keys,
enabling users and computers to both securely exchange data over networks such as the Internet and verify
the identity of the other party. The purpose of a PKI is to facilitate the secure electronic transfer of
information for a range of network activities such as e-commerce, internet banking and confidential email.
3. Encryption software

Encryption is a generic term that refers to the act of encoding data, in this context so that those data can be
securely transmitted via the Internet. Encryption software is software that can encrypt and decrypt data,
often in the form of files on a hard drive or packets sent over a network. Software encryption is a
fundamental part of modern computer communications and file protection.The purpose of encryption is to
prevent third parties from recovering any of the original data, or even any information about the data, from
the encrypted data.

4. Digital certificates

Digital Certificates are a means by which consumers and businesses can utilise the security applications
of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). PKI comprises of the technology to enables secure e-commerce and
Internet based communication.

5. Digital Signatures

Digital signatures are the public-key primitives of message authentication. In the physical world, it is
common to use handwritten signatures on handwritten or typed messages. They are used to bind signatory
to the message. Similarly, a digital signature is a technique that binds a person/entity to the digital data.
Like a written signature, the purpose of a digital signature is to guarantee that the individual sending the
message really is who he or she claims to be. Digital signatures are especially important for electronic
commerce and are a key component of most authentication schemes. To be effective, digital signatures
must be unforgeable. There are a number of different encryption techniques to guarantee this level of
security.

6. Biometrics

Biometrics generally refers to the study of measurable biological characteristics. In computer security,
biometrics refers to authentication techniques that rely on measurable physical characteristics that can be
automatically checked.

There are several types of biometric identification schemes:

face: the analysis of facial characteristics

fingerprint: the analysis of an individuals unique fingerprints
hand geometry: the analysis of the shape of the hand and the length of the fingers
retina: the analysis of the capillary vessels located at the back of the eye
iris: the analysis of the colored ring that surrounds the eyes pupil
signature: the analysis of the way a person signs his name.
vein: the analysis of pattern of veins in the back if the hand and the wrist
 voice: the analysis of the tone, pitch, cadence and frequency of a persons voice.

7. Network operations centres

A network operations centre (NOC) is a place from which administrators supervise, monitor and maintain
a telecommunications network. Large enterprises with large networks as well as large network service
providers typically have a network operations centre, a room containing visualizations of the network or
networks that are being monitored, workstations at which the detailed status of the network can be seen,
and the necessary software to manage the networks. The network operations centre is the focal point for
network troubleshooting, software distribution and updating, router and domain name management,
performance monitoring, and coordination with affiliated networks.