Threat of online security: how safe is our data?

Types of threat
1) Vulnerability- It is software that can be directly used by a hacker to gain access to system or network.
2) Denial-of-service (DOS) attack- An attack on a website 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.
3) Distributed denial-of-service (DDos) attack- An attack in which the attacker gains administrative access to as many computers on the internet as possible and uses the multiple computers to send a flood of data packets to the target computer.
4) Malware- a generic term for malicious software.
----1) virus- a piece of software code that inserts itself into a host.
2) Worm-a software program that runs independently, consuming the resources of its host in order to maintain itself.
3) Trojan horse-a program that appears to have a useful function but that contains a hidden function that presents a security risk.

For the last few years the Internet has become the playground of organized crime. Gangs can hide easily and steal personal data that can be worth a lot of money for very little time spent on their part in trying to obtain it. Hackers also are employing more professional approaches to maximize damage without being caught. These include division of labor by hacking expertise and wider use of black-market sites to hire programmers and purchase professional malware-writing tools.

NEWS

Technology November 12, 2007

In September, the names and contact information for tens of thousands of customers of Automatic Data Processing (ADP) and SunTrust Banks (STI) were stolen from Salesforce.com (CRM), which provides online customer management software for those two companies. The incident occurred after a hacker tricked a Salesforce employee into disclosing a password.

- Thursday, 10 April 2008

The number of viruses, worms and Trojans in circulation has topped the one million mark. This was revealed by security firm Symantec in the latest edition of its bi-annual Internet Security Threat Report. It shows second half of 2007 during which time the security firm detected 499,811 new malicious code threats. This figure was up 136% on the first six months of 2007. Throughout 2007 Symantec detected more than 711,912 novel threats which brings the total number of malicious programs that the security firm's anti-virus programs detect to 1,122,311. The report notes: "almost two thirds of all malicious code threats currently detected were created during 2007."

Virus Prevention Tips

- Do not open any files attached to an email from an unknown, suspicious or untrustworthy source.
-Do not open any files attached to an email unless you know what it is, even if it appears to come from a dear friend or someone you know. Some viruses can replicate themselves and spread through email. Better be safe than sorry and confirm that they really sent it.
-Do not open any files attached to an email if the subject line is questionable or unexpected. If the need to do so is there always save the file to your hard drive before doing so.
- Delete chain emails and junk email. Do not forward or reply to any to them. These types of email are considered spam, which is unsolicited, intrusive mail that clogs up the network. - Do not download any files from strangers.

-Exercise caution when downloading files from the Internet. Ensure that the source is a legitimate and reputable one. Verify that an anti-virus program checks the files on the download site. If you're uncertain, don't download the file at all or download the file to a floppy and test it with your own anti-virus software.
- Update your anti-virus software regularly. Over 500 viruses are discovered each month, so you'll want to be protected. These updates should be at the least the products virus signature files. You may also need to update the product's scanning engine as well.

How to safeguard our personal and financial data?

Below are some steps to safeguard your personal and financial data:

1. Use a credit card with a small limit when mail-order and online purchase. Thus, it will prevent those dishonest clerk from getting your personal and financial data and information, at least those thieves will not rack up many bills.

2. When a person solicits you, you have to require the solicitor to send you a mail to check for legitimacy. You can curtail the solicitor’s phone you receive by placing your number on the National Do Not Call registry, it will not get rid by anybody. Organization such as charities, political groups, business companies are using.

3. Review your monthly statement is an easy thing that you can do to prevent your financial data been stolen. But not many people will do it. Not only review for any fraudulent charges but also find legitimate charges that are not necessary.

4. Prepare for disaster! It is most important to make sure you have safeguard yours and your family’s important documents. Keep those documents in a sealable plastic bags or you can rent a safety deposit box.

5. While you want to choose a password that easier to remember, please do not use something that a clever thief can figure out, such as your birth date, your name, family name and etc. A combination of number and symbols will be more safety.

6. Protect your computer security by using as many tools as you can to guard your information and data in the computer, such as passwords, firewalls, spyware and etc.

Phishing: Examples & its prevention methods

What is phishing?

Phishing also referred to as brand spoofing or carding, is a variation on ‘fishing’, the idea being that bait is thrown out with the hopes that while most will ignore the bait, some will be tempted into biting.

Phishing is an attempt to criminally & fraudulently acquired sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords & credit card details by fraud as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Phishing is carried out by e-mail, ebay, paypal, bestbuy, msn, yahoo, Citibank, AOL & etc. It is an example of social engineering techniques used to fool users.

Example of phishing from e-mail:

Example of phishing from update credit card information:

Example of phishing that message from ebay member:


Example of phishing from yahoo!:

Example of phishing from Citibank:

The sender address looks like Citibank and the link appears to lead to Citibank's website. If you click on the link, you get a site that looks like a genuine Citibank website.

How to spot phishing scams:

1) Never reply to e-mail message that request your personal information.
2) Don’t click links in suspicious e-mail, the link might not be trustworthy.
3) Use the strong or different password for each of your accounts & change them frequently.
4) Don’t send personal information in regular e-mail messages.
5) Do the business only with companies you know & trust.
6) Help protect your PC, keep your PC updated & use antivirus software.
7) Monitor your transaction, using just one credit card for online purchases makes it easier to track your transactions.
8) Use credit cards for transactions on the internet instead of debit cards to avoid the big credit limit from your bank account.

Let’s all work together to prevent phishing scams. If you receive a suspicious e-mail, please report it. You can send it to the US Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov or you can just click the ‘report as junk’ button on your e-mail program.

history and evolution of e-commerce

Meaning of e-commerce
Ecommerce meant the process of execution of commercial transactions electronically with the help of the leading technologies 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. However, in year 2000, People began to define the term ecommerce as the process of purchasing of available goods and services over the Internet using secure connections and electronic payment services.

History of e-commerce
E-commerce came from the development of the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).What is EDI? EDI is a set of standards developed in the 1960’s to exchange business information and do electronic transactions. At first, companies might not be able to interact with each other due to several EDI formats that business can see.
In 1984, ASC X 12 standards became stable and reliable in transferring large amounts of transactions.
In 1991, e-commerce became possible when the Internet was opened to commercial use. There is thousand of companies have taken up residence at websites.
In 1992 the first ‘point and click’ browser was occurred when the Mosaic web-browser was made available.
In 1994, netscape arrived; it allowed easier access to electronic commerce. Internet began to advance in popularity among the general public.

In 1998, arrival of DSL or Digital Subscriber Line.DSL allowed quicker access and a persistent connection to the Internet. After the DSL is the arrival of Linux. Linux gave users another choice in a platform other then Windows that was reliable and open-source.
In early 2000, there is a merger between AOL and Time Warner.
In February 2000, because of the hackers attacked some of the major e-commerce, there is the improved security in the development of e-commerce.
By the end of 2001, the largest form of ecommerce, Business-to-Business (B2B) model, had around $700 billion in transactions.

Evolution of E-Commerce

E-Commerce was birth out of the World-Wide-Web (WWW). While the Internet was developed in the late 1960s, the WWW came into existence more than a decade ago - in the early 1990s. Since then, however, it has grown phenomenally to become the most widely used service on the Internet. Although the web has made online shopping for many business and individuals, e-commerce has existed for many year. For decades, banks have been using electronic funds transfer (EFT). Businesses also have been using EDI. In the 1960s, businesses realized that many of the documents they exchange related to the shipping of goods ,such as invoices, credit note and purchase order ,they also spending a good deal of time and money entering these data into their computers. By creating a set of standard formats for transmitting that information electronically, businesses were able to reduce errors, avoid printing and mailing costs, and eliminate the need to re-enter the data.

Example of the early-adopter of the e-commerce

http://www.dell.com.my/

an American company located in Texas
Launched in 1994 as a static page by the end of 1997 was the first company to record a million dollars in online sales
selling goods over the World Wide Web with no retail outlets and no middlemen

http://www.pizzahut.com.my

Pizza Hut, a division of Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., is the world's largest pizza restaurant company with more than 8,000 units in the United States and nearly 4,000 units in 90 countries. The company is the recognized leader in the $25 billion pizza category.

An example of an E-Commerce failure and its causes - PETS.COM

Pets.com was an online business that sold pet accessories and supplies direct to consumers in the world over the World Wide Web. The company rolled out a regional advertising campaign using a variety of media, such as TV, print, radio and eventually a Pets.com magazine. The company succeeded wildly in making its well known mascot, the Pets.com sock puppet. The Pets.com site design was extremely well received, garnering several advertising awards. The company went public in February 2000; the former Nasdaq stock symbol was IPET. It was the last dot-com to go public before the bubble burst.

Pets.com closed its business in the same year (2000) that it went public. The reason that causes the Pets.com became failure is that the management and board realized that they would not be able to raise any further capital. They aggressively take actions to sell the company to others. The PetSmart has offered less than the net cash value of the company, and the Pets.com's board of directors turned down that offer. Later, the company announced they were closing their doors on the afternoon of November 6, 2000. In the time, the Pets.com stock had fallen from over $11 per share in February 2000 to $0.19 the day of its liquidation announcement. The Pets.com management stayed on to provide an orderly wind down of operations and liquidation of assets.

An example of an e-commerce success & its causes

E-commerce means we can buy and sell products or services over electronic system such as the internet & other computer networks. The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown extraordinarily since the spread of the Internet. Thus, there are many success examples of e-commerce website that have been created such as www.amazon.com, www.ebay.com, www.florist.com, www.bestbuy.com, www.target.com, www.futureshop.com, etc.

One of the examples,Bestbuy.com that i chosen is an international retailer of consumer electronic & entertainment software such as televisions, DVD players, home audio, car audio, computers, cameras, music, movies, games & etc. The natigation of this website consists of deals, coupons, rebates, freebies, categories,...etc. Bestbuy.com coupons & deals are usually only valid for a short period of time, so that the older bestbuy.com coupons & deals may be expired.

Bestbuy.com successed due to it emphasizes customer services by placing toll-free numbers on each page along with a click-to-call option to request a call from an agent. It plays up friendly images & leaving no doubt that it's backed by the same service customers expect in stores.

Besides that, bestbuy.com emphasizes pricing deals but leaves much of its shopping assistance features on its internal pages. Thus, they hit shoppers on the home page with a message about how to choose a TV, for instance, making a balanced statement between ' we have good pricing' & ' we can help you choose good products'.

In addition, bestbuy.com let shoppers submit rebate forms online instead of through the mail, it's not only save customers time & postage but also give them another reason to visit bestbuy.com. Thus, bestbuy.com is able to success continuously.

Revenue model for Google,Amazon.com,and eBay.

An e-commerce model is the most well-known revenue stream where the website sells products and services online. However, there are billions of websites on the internet and about 30 million domain names are registered. Among these surviving players on the internet, how many of the websites do make real money and have real profits? Recent years, Google, Amazon.com, and eBay have been viewed as big e-commerce merchants and took over the lead of e-market. Then, another question may be aroused…How do people derived their revenue through these websites?

Now, let’s me explain the different revenue model that adopted by Google, Amazon.com, and eBay.

Google Inc is an American public corporation, earning revenue from advertising related to its Internet search, web-based e-mail, online mapping, office productivity, social networking, and video sharing as well as selling advertising-free versions of the same technologies. The principal services offered by Google include Google AdWords and Google AdSense.

AdWords is Google's flagship advertising product and main source of revenue.Google AdWords allows Web advertisers to display advertisements in Google's search results and the Google Content Network, through either a cost-per-click or cost-per-view scheme. An advertiser has to pay every time his ad receives a click. The Advertisers decide the keywords relevant to their offer that should display their ad and the maximum amount they are willing to pay per click for that keyword.

• Google AdSense is an ad serving program run by Google. Website owners can enroll in this program to enable text, image and, more recently, video advertisements on their sites. These ads are administered by Google and generate revenue on either a per-click or per-thousand-impressions basis. AdSense has become a popular method of placing advertising on a website because the ads are less intrusive than most banners, and the content of the ads is often relevant to the website. Google is currently testing a new advertising program which called Cost-Per-Action. This program pays site owners based on a Cost-Per-Click model.

Amazon was one of the first major companies to sell goods by Internet.Amazon.com started as an on-line bookstore, but soon diversified to product lines of VHS, DVD, music CDs, MP3 format, computer software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys, etc. Amazon.com successfully earned distributed transaction fees which are fixed at price through creating virtual marketplace. However, Amazon is also a pioneer in affiliate partnership marketing. An Amazon partner website can display Amazon books directly on their website, and sends customers to the Amazon's website when the visitor is ready to buy it. So far, Amazon has been the crown prince of consumer E-commerce, favored to rule over an expanding E-empire.

eBay popularized the auction format listing. Like most auction companies, eBay does not actually sell goods that it owns itself. It merely facilitates the process of listing and displaying goods, bidding on items, and paying for them. It acts as a marketplace for individuals and businesses that use the site to auction off goods and services.

eBay offers several types of auctions such as below:

1.Auction-style listings allow the seller to offer one or more items for sale for a specified number of days. The seller can establish a reserve price. 2.Fixed Price format allows the seller to offer one or more items for sale at a Buy It Now price. Buyers who agree to pay that price win the auction immediately without submitting a bid.
3.Dutch Auctions allow the seller to offer two or more identical items in the same auction. Bidders can bid for any number from one item up to the total number offered.

In other words, eBay generated its revenue through transaction fees by using online auction business model.

manning's introduction

Name: Ng Man Ning
Gender: Female
Age: 21
Horoscope: Capricorn
Birth: 19.1.87
Hometown: Kepong, KL
Primary School: SJKC Jinjang Utara
Secondary School: Chong Hwa Independent High School
Location: Flora Green, Sungai Long
Mail: capriconing@hotmail.com

Those are some introduction about myself. What are my hobbies? Erm… there are many. Sometime, I like to read novel, for example detective novel such as Wisley, Da Vinci Code, Sherlock Holmes and etc. Sometime, I like drawings, do some handcrafts. I learn before some music instrument, especially the Chinese instrument – Pipa. So, that is one I will play or practice when I feel boring or feel stressful. I also like chatting with friends, because from the conversation, I can know more about my friends.

5 websites that I visited the most:
1. http://www.hotmail.com/ – Checks my mails. Sometimes can get knowledge and useful information from mail sent by my friends.
2. http://www.google,com/ – websites that I always use to find information that I need.
3. http://capriconing.spaces.live.com/ – This is the place where I writing my blog ( but in
Chinese, haha…), sharing my feeling, experiences, some opinions and etc., and also view others friends’ blog.
4. http://www.astro.sina.com.cn/ – This is the place where I check my daily horoscope.
5. http://www.frinedster.com/ – View photos, get to know friends’ recent situation.

I mostly use internet to find information that needed, to get knowledge or for my assignment, chatting with friends using msn, play online games, post my blog, check mail and etc. Actually there are a of lot things to do by using internet…
That’s all for my introduction and thanks for viewing!

Introduce myself

Hello, for those who already know me or interested to be friend with me, my name is Chow Jiar Juen, or you can just call me jane.I am an ordinary girl who come from Tmn.Miharja, Jln .Cheras.But now i am staying at Sungai long,Garden Park condominium.Many people may wonder why i choose to stay at there although my house is not really far away from my university,UTAR. hehe..... Actually, the main reason is my mom not allow me to drive due to many excuse...I usually spent my free time with reading novel,comics and some magazines.Those reading materials can let me get some inspiration and earn extra knowledge.Besides reading , i like watching drama and listening music too..I think there are effective ways to reduce my stress.Same as many young generation in KL, i prefer go for shopping,singing karaoke and travelling during holiday.Of course, computer is also important for my life when i feel bored.The top 5 websites that i visited the most are google, hotmail, friendster, baidu and tudou. Most of time i use google to find information that i needed.I will keep in touch and interact with all my friend through using hotmail and friendster.For entertainment purpose, i will go for baidu and tudou to download, entering forum and watching tv online.Most of internet activity i done are checking email, msn, watching online tv ,playing games, forum and doing assignment....This is my first time to write blog , i think it is a good experience for me..welcome to view ya..haha..

PeGGy's introduction

Hello....my friends...how are you? Nice to meet you...My name is Kam Pei Kee...you can call me Peggy...I come from KL..21 years old this year-capricorn...stay at Garden Park in Sg. Long currently...but i still need drive to UTAR everyday and back my hometown almost every week unless i am busy for doing assignment...this is my first time to write blog, i never have this habit before thus i hope i can enjoy it.

I have some hobbies but i don't think there are good for me such as watching movie, shopping...because it will waste my time and money...but these activities can satisfied me when i am very free. Sometimes i also will listen music when i am stressful but not english songs. So bad. Usually the websites that i visited the most are hotmail, friendster, google, megavideo and utar website. Hotmail website can let me chat with my friends or discuss assignment with my group members through MSN and also check mails that i received from other peoples. Friendster website... i think most people will visit it everyday or oftenly. The purposes are update their photos and write comments to their friends. I prefer to find the resources or articles of assignment from google website rather than others websites. When i am free, i will watch some Hong Kong's movie on megavideo website. Visiting Utar website can make me know the latest news, events or services of Utar. I visited it the most is during the final examination's results release time.

That's about me...thanks for your viewing our blog and kindly to write comment for me or my group members too...always smile^^ thanks ya...

self-introduction

Nice to meet all of you and welcome all of you to our blog.I am lee yoke teng. I come from jinjang, kuala lumpur. my birthday is 1-8-1987. So, now i am 20+ years old...why is 20+years old?haha..because i havent celebrate my 21 years old birthday. Chong Hwa Independent High School is my secondary school. Now i study accounting in Utar. My hobbies are travelling , watch drama ecpecially hong kong drama, shopping and playing online game. The 1st website that i visited the most is google,because i can find any website that i don't know the address from there, so i can go in any website that i want. 2nd website is hotmail because i can receive my friend mail, especially the forward message.3rd websites is y8 because there have a lot of game for me to choose to play, so i can enjoy playing whatever game i like .4th websites is friendster because can view my friend photo. 5th website is megavideo, because can watch the free drama there. Normally, i use the computer for playing online game, checking mail,watch online drama,view my friend photo and search information for assignment. That is all about me.Thank you all of you view our blog.