Unit-8 E-Commerce Assignment-2
P3 - Explain the potential risks to an organisation of committing to an e-commerce system
Hacking:
Hackers get access to places where other people would not have access and or, permission to get in.
These hackers usually use this opportunity to make a website unusable and or steal data from it.
Data can be used against the company, could be sold or could be used against the company’s users.
Hackers will have the permission to edit, delete any documents as if they were the admin, which
could cause a lot of troubles such as: losing money, customer trust, leaking confidential information.
Hackers could steal private data such as: user’s private information (credit card details, addresses
etc. or confidential or critical data that includes the company’s management and or their staff
information). Hacks can be prevented by having a good Anti-Virus, having everything up-to-date,
frequent maintenance, backing-up data to another server frequently (hourly for example), having
strong passwords etc.
-Trojan Horses: A Trojan virus can get on the computer without the Anti-Virus and the user noticing
it. It could get on it as a harmless file such as an image, video or a music file. This virus could delete
files and change things in the computer’s directories which could eventually break the computer, so
it would not even boot up the next time you turn it on. Trojans usually get on user’s computers by
opening up random emails and or downloading various harmless ‘looking’ files.
-Worms: Worms usually run in the background making the user really hard to notice the harmful
malware program. This virus is created to spread, and mostly spreads through networks making it
really hard to see. It could steal private information such as: credit card details. Worms can get on a
pc by opening an unwanted email and its attached files, that might or will contain the malicious
codes.
-Viruses: It’s created to steal personal data and to infect the computer with harmful software that
could break the computer and make it unusable. It is usually a computer code that is made to sneak
into the computer system avoiding Anti-Virus applications and the firewall. It infects the computer
with a malicious code that will cause damages to the user’s files, the system, or both at the same
time. If this would happen to a retailer’s website, it could be crucial and would cause a lot of
damages.
-Web Servers: Web servers deliver the requested websites to the users, so they reach it and view it.
Web servers also hold data of the actual website, which can be visited on the internet, if published.
Web servers can run on Windows or Linux, although the least one is more popular as it has a better
security system, and more freedom (Open Source). If the website has the ability to let users upload
their own files to the servers, then the server will be capable of getting a malicious file, that could do
damages to the server (infect it with a virus). Outdated software and codes, plugins, scripts can also
cause damages, as hackers could infect the Web Server’s system with a code or an application that
could harm everything that is stored on the Server and on its system. There are many ways of
preventing an alleged attack against our servers or system, and these include: continuous
maintenance, up-to-date scripts, applications, plugins etc… , Firewall and an Anti-Virus software.
Different protocols can also be used to avoid any attacks, and protect the files that are stored on the
servers.
Roland UDVARLAKI – Unit 8 – P3 – Page 1 of 2