Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Post review "UK to get tough with illegal downloader" on My E-Commerce

According to the post "UK to get tough with illegal downloader" on My E-Commerce there are around 6 million people who are downloading files illegally throughout the internet in UK. Illegal material downloading such as music, movie and software. And thus from this act, will cause the industry to lose millions of pounds in revenue every year. This increase event of illegal downloading is because the Internet Service Providers Association (ISP) does not bear any responsibility for illegal file sharing as the content is not hosted on their servers.

But as an internet user, I think that the government should not only blame the internet user. This would impact ISP provider business in other ways. Many ISPs currently market their more-expensive internet accounts to file-sharers on the basis of 'unlimited' monthly usage. If illegal file-sharing is to be stopped by these methods, then home users may only require cheap low-use internet accounts. Moreover, if the ISP makes a false accusation and pulls the connection of an innocent person, the ISP will eventually bear the legal costs.

Although illegal downloading are against the law, but I believe that there are always better alternatives for all these.

Monday, June 23, 2008

E-Auction


E-auctions are auctions conducted online.


An example of e-auction in Malaysia is http://www.lelong.com/.


Prevention

*User identity verification. eBay uses the services of Equifax to verify user identities for a $5 fee.

*Authentication service is a way of determining whether an item is genuine and described appropriately.



*Grading services is way of determining the physical condition of an item.



*Feedback forum provides users with the ability to comment on their experiences with other individuals



*Insurance policy uses are covered up to $ 200, with a $ 25 deductible.


*Nonpayment punishment eBay implemented a policy against those who do not honor their winning bids.



*Appraisal services use a variety of methods to appraise items.



*Physical inspection when the seller and buyer are in the same location, it is easy to arrange for such inspections.



*Verification One way of confirming the identity and evaluating the condition of an item is through verification.

Lelong.com! An e-commerce site in Malaysia


Lelong.com is one of Malaysia’s leading e-commerce site. Lelong.com was established to provide e-auction services to customers, retailers, and others that are looking at ways to shops conviniently in order to reduce the problems related to looking for the things that they searching. At the end of 1998, the firm has quickly established a firm footing in the e-commerce field and has grown progressively from strength to strength each year with the staff continually strive to improve and develop its functionality without projecting in a high costs view.



Lelong.com is an online store doing selling and buying transaction. Styled and functioning similar to the international auction site such as eBay.com. Lelong.com.my powers a robust and secure avenue for trading in Malaysia. The idea of an auction site in Malaysia has taken off with tremendous response. With a local flavour, members feel a sense of belonging and constantly keep in contact with the Lelong Development Team to give feedback, be it positive or negative. Starting based on Consumer-to-Consumer transactions, Lelong.com.my is now moving to becoming a channel for Business-to-Consumer relationships. Many distributors have realised the power of using the auction system and are now using our site to trade and grow their business.

The website is user friendly because user can search the desired product through categories such as clothing and accessories and provides detailed information about their products, display pictures, regular price, online order price, number of order unit. There are also a lot of links that may help the users link to the home page, online order ways, payment method, and contact supplier easily.
Lelong.com , shopping cart etc. Function of request a quote for the consumer who cannot find the product they wish to find also available at the website, so consumer can describe the product they wish to buy to them.

New marketing tools for companies!Corporate Bloggin!

Wikipedia:
“A corporate blog is a weblog published and used by the organization to reach the organizational goals. Although there are many different types of corporate blogs, they are mostly categorized as either external or internal corporate blogs”


1. Company Blog

This is the most common form of the company blog. IMO, the corporate blog is definitely the next stage in the evolution of the corporate website. Examples: There are so many examples to choose from include: Google, Adobe, Flickr, Facebook, and Yahoo! Search.

2. Industry Blog

This is an interesting type of corporate blog one that we should beware of, because it places some difficult ethical choices for the company at hand. This is definitely not an advisable strategy for every company but should be considered an option if you consider yourself or employees in your organization as thought leaders in your respective field/technology and choose to establish a blog to discuss best practices.

3. Department or Product Blog

Department blog is another common style or kind of blogging, which is very popular and ultimately essential for large organizations.

4. CEO Blog

The most famous example would have to be the blog of Jonathan Schwartz, CEO at Sun Microsystems. He sets such a stellar example for other CEO to blog even he is busy with his schedules.



There are advantages and disadvantages in corporate blogging;

Advantages:

  • Blogs have one publisher who controls what is published on the blog
  • Comments from readers can be pre-screened and even blocked (i.e. not published) if they are deemed inappropriate
  • Good blogs have a distinctive voice and personality
  • That voice tends to make good reading and to invite a real "conversation" with reader
  • A blog gathers steam, gains traction and can get better and richer over time
  • Blog entries are easily searchable (by date and category/topic)
  • Individual blog posts are findable on Google (each has its own unique URL)
  • RSS (i.e. a Web feed) is a highly efficient way to read updates to a blog
  • Blogs don't require registration and logging in (a stumbling block - or an irritant - for some users)
  • Blogs can host other (compelling) forms of social media, including video clips and podcasts

Disadvantages:

  • Blogs can make company problems public
  • Lose control your company's message
  • Company to lose valuable customers - Misleading advertisement
  • No confidentiality - A third party’s trade secrets may be accidentally disclosed, breaching a confidentiality agreement, which could be costly and could affect a company’s reputation

Lets take streething.com as an example,

In this blog, they offer insights of the local Asian streetwear culture. They develop & support the streetwear scene with information, events and updates. This helps a lot to market their company and their business.

Pre-paid cash card and its application!

A prepaid card, also commonly referred to as a stored-value card, is typically a credit, card-sized piece of plastic that contains or represents an amount of pre-loaded value. Unlike, credit card, which draw their value from a line of credit, or debit card, which draw their value, from a checking account, the value on a prepaid card typically comes from money given to the, card’s issuer (or a designee) prior to its use. Prepaid cards take many forms, including gift cards, that can be used at a specific merchant or mall, travel cards that can be used in the same way as, travelers’ checks, payroll cards that can be used to access one’s wages, and “teen cards” that are, marketed to those under 18 years to access funds their parents load onto the card. The application of prepaid card can be view in four types;




Closed-system

Closed-system prepaid cards are those that can only be purchased from and redeemed at a, single merchant (or merchant chain). They include a host of gift-card-type products, such as those , offered by Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, and Home Depot. These cards are usually purchased, directly from a retailer and, unlike credit or debit cards, are not embossed with the cardholder’s, name. The cards are typically sold in fixed amounts (e.g.$25, $50, or $100) and are not re-loadable. Although they function very much like paper gift certificates, prepaid cards provide retailers with additional benefits.

First, gift card transactions are easier to, clear and settle than paper gift certificate transactions, as they do not require paper-based, settlement and tracking systems.

Second, unlike a paper certificate, the card can store any value, that remains after its initial use.
This obviates the need for merchants to refund cash to consumers, who use less than the card’s full value. Such a feature likely ensures that most people will either, spend more than the face value of the card or never use the card’s entire value.

Third, gift cards, are easier to issue and less susceptible to fraud than paper gift certificates (i.e., they are more, difficult to counterfeit).

Finally, the information systems that track gift cards enable merchants to, gather data on the ways that consumers use such cards. This kind of information can be used to, improve merchants’ marketing efforts.

Some merchants, however, have had success developing gift-card products that are more ,
than just substitutes for paper gift certificates. For example, Starbucks, which launched its closed-, system prepaid card about two years ago, markets the card as both a gift idea and “a fast and, convenient way to simplify your busy day." The company reports that it has sold 18 million gift, cards and that gift card purchases represent 10 percent of the coffee retailer’s transaction, volume.4 Gift card proponents point to this success as evidence that the cards can ultimately, increase a merchant’s sales volume and simplify its check-out process.


Semi-Closed

Unlike closed-system cards, which are issued by and redeemed at a single merchant, semi-closed system cards are issued by third parties (e.g., banks, money transmitters) and often
redeemable at multiple merchants. They often look like credit cards (i.e., they have a magnetic
stripe on the back), and they operate on and carry the logo of a branded card network (e.g.,
MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover). For this reason, merchants that already accept
traditional credit cards do not need to make any modifications to their POS terminals in order to
accept them. Mall cards and resort cards are two examples of semi-closed-system cards. Both can usually be purchased from mall or resort management and used at any on-premises merchant. In general, semi-closed cards are not reloadable and do not carry the cardholder’s name. As with closed-system cards, merchants may benefit from the use of semi-closed cards to the extent that a customer spends more than the amount loaded on the card. In addition, such cards may bring customers into a mall or resort shopping area that they otherwise might not visit. From the cardholder’s perspective, semi-closed-system cards may obviate the need to carry lots of cash at a mall or while on vacation. In addition, some semi-closed-system cards offer replacement protections in the event the card is lost or stolen. With a few exceptions, accepting a semi-closed prepaid card at the point of sale is effectively the same as accepting a signature debit or credit card. Upon being presented with the card, the merchant swipes it through a card reader to obtain authorization for the purchase. Information about the transaction is typically sent, via the branded network, to the card’s issuer (or a designee). If the prepaid card amount being applied toward the purchase does not exceed the amount on the card, the issuer approves the transaction and the sale is completed.


If, however, the amount being applied toward the purchase exceeds the amount on the card, the transaction is denied. One of the limitations of using branded card networks to authorize these transactions is the inability on the part of the merchant to know how much value is on the card. So, for example, if a customer presents a prepaid card that contains $35 of value to make a $50 purchase and the customer does not inform the merchant of the $15 shortfall, the merchant will not be able to get authorization to complete the sale. Most issuers of these kinds of prepaid cards provide cardholders with a means of checking a card’s balance (e.g., by calling an 800 number or by checking a web site). Unfortunately, even if a customer is fully aware of the prepaid card’s remaining value, he or she may still be challenged to complete a transaction involving a shortfall. Assume, for example, that the customer above alerts the merchant to the $15 shortfall and presents a credit card to cover the difference. Some older POS terminals do not allow consumers to use more than one branded card to pay for a single transaction. If the merchant has one of these terminals, consumers must pay for any prepaid card shortfall using cash or check. Although increasingly rare, the so-called “split-tender” problem complicates a transaction that would otherwise provide the merchant with sales above and beyond the prepaid card’s value.

Semi-closed-system prepaid cards also provide benefits to their issuers. Issuers can earn
interest on any unused prepaid card value (i.e., float), receive an interchange fee on gift-card
purchases, and potentially charge fees for issuance or inactivity or both. In Rinearson’s opinion,
these benefits, coupled with the fact that their limited universe of acceptance insulates them from most fraud risk, make semi-closed-system cards a seemingly profitable product.



Semi-Open

From an operational perspective, semi-open and semi-closed prepaid card transactions
are very similar. They gain authorization, clear, and settle in the same manner, on the same
networks. They offer similar value propositions to merchants (e.g., lower interchange, reduced



Open

Open cards are essentially semi-open cards with ATM functionality. Examples of open-system cards include payroll, teen, and travel cards. Payroll cards are an increasingly popular wage distribution alternative for employers that do not want to go through the weekly or biweekly process of printing and distributing individual payroll checks. A product largely targeted to people with no established banking relationships, the payroll card is funded by an account into which an employer has deposited an individual’s earnings. The cardholder can then use the card to buy things at a merchant or to get cash from an ATM. The teen card has been promoted as a tool that parents can use to teach teenagers about financial responsibility. Teen cards are typically funded through a deposit account and can be used by those not yet old enough to have a credit card (i.e., those under 18). Finally, a travel card is essentially a plastic version of a traveler’s check.

Credit card debts : causes and prevention







Credit card debt is an example of unsecured consumer debt. Debt results when a client of a credit card company purchases an item or service through the card system. Debt accumulates and increases via interest and penalties when the consumer does not pay the company for the money he or she has spent.

The results of not paying this debt on time are that the company will charge a late payment penalty (generally in the US from $10 to $40) and report the late payment to credit rating agencies. Being late on a payment is sometimes referred to as being in "default". The late payment penalty itself increases the amount of debt the consumer has. When a consumer has been late on a payment, it is possible that other creditors, even creditors the consumer was not late in paying, may increase the interest rates the consumer is paying.

Causes
*Poor Money Management.
A monthly spending plan is essential. Without one you have no idea where your money is going. You may be spending hundreds of dollars unnecessarily each month and end up having to charge purchases on which you should have spent that money. Planning is no more difficult than writing down your expenses and income and reconciling the two. You will be surprised at how powerful you'll feel when you are making thoughtful decisions about where and when to spend your money.

*Users' attitude.
Users' attitude is also another factor that contributes to credit card debts. When users do not have self-discpline, he or she will be easily lured towards sales. They will tend shop and buy impulsively. This is because they do not want to miss he chance of grabbing the items at the minimum price.At the end of the day, when the bill arrives, they will be shocked and will only realize that they had over-spent and do not have sufficient money to pay off the bills and they will have to say "HELLO!" to debts.


Preventions
*Budgeting
A budget is your best weapon against debt. If you realize in time that your credit card debt is getting out of control and you can manage to stick to a strict budget, you should be able to get out of credit card debt with ease.
This is a good time to cancel all credit cards you can no longer afford so you can stop using them and start paying them off. If you can manage to pay off double your minimum payment your balance on that card will disappear within a couple of months. Checking for erroneous negatives points and fraudulent purchases is also quite essential.

*Debt consolidation program
A debt consolidation service will be able to renegotiate with your creditors getting you lower rates and smaller payments. All of your bills will be consolidated into one monthly bill so its hard to forget to send in. Debt consolidation programs will be able to make it easy for you to pay off your debts so you can start saving again for the future. A good debt consolidation service will be able to get late fees and other payments wiped from your credit history and even your current balance.

*Consildate your debt on your own
By paying off all your debts with a single low interest credit card is a great way to cut back on payments and late fees. You can even go as far as calling up the creditors and requesting the the removal of late fees and request to cancel as well. There's a 50% shot you may be able to get some or all of the late fees wiped from your record. And you can then cancel your cards even if they have a unpaid balance still on them. This way you won't be able to continue spending.












Electronic Currency


Electronic Currency

Electronic currency trading is not something you can predict or guess. Any trader that falls into the trap of trying to guess what is going to happen is going to lose. When you trade currencies you absolutely must have some type of reasoning and guessing isn't going to work.

Electronic currency trading is not an easy market to get into. You should never trade without help. The best way to start trading is by using a practice trading account to see how well you would do. This way you can learn the tools used in the real forex trading world and understand how to trade properly. Practice accounts are usually available for free from most brokers. A good thing about trying the practice accounts is that each one may be different with each broker. This can give you a good idea which broker you want to go with by the type of account they offer and the graphical interface you would be using. Then you can pick the practice account you like best and stick with it.

Another thing you should do before you learn electronic currency trading is take training or an educational class. Training classes are designed for beginners or experts. Anyone can take a training class and benefit from it. You don't have to be an expert to learn forex trading.

The future of electronic currency

Soon internet sellers who do not like the cost or risk associated with credit cards will demand money from buyers, just as sellers in real space often do. When that happens, the market will need electronic currencies that can circulate from computer, around the world.

The Internet Needs Global Electronic Currencies. Global electronic currencies will benefit Internet commerce in three ways. First, the currencies can serve as universal media of exchange. Once a user acquires a global electronic currency, she can enter into transactions around the world without having to pay exchange fees.

Second, the currencies will provide global units of account, enabling buyers and sellers all over the world to understand what goods and services are worth without calculation.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, global electronic currencies will serve as stable stores of value. Competition will drive unstable products out of the market. Unlike national monies, private currencies will not be subject to the inflationary monetary policies of national governments and the special interests they represent.

Mobile payment systems in Malaysia: Its potentials and consumers’ adoption strategies.




Mobile Payment System (MPS) is a point-of-sale payment made through a existing mobile device, such as a cellular telephone, a smart phone, or a personal digital assistant (PDA). There is NO installation needed to start using this new attracting method of making payment. Payment transaction is as easy as sending an SMS. Using m-payment, a person with a wireless device could pay for items in a store or settle a bill without interacting with any staff member. Mobile payment can be used to purchase any number of digital or hard goods, such as Music, video, called ring-tones, games, wallpapers, books, magazines, tickets and so on. Now a day, mobile payments even can easily handling hotel and restaurant reservation.






Beneficial of M-payment:
- User friendly
- Convenient, any where, any time
- handling in high speed
- Save time & effort
- Safe & secure
- Avoid fraud problem
- Reduce transportation problem
The most famous mobile payment system in Malaysia is Mobile Money Wallet (MM Wallet). Mobile Money or MM Wallet is one of the online payments. MM Wallet is a new feature from Mobile Money that will turn your mobile phone into an electronic wallet. It brings you superior convenience that allows you to shop cash-free, making remote payment & send money with SMS.


Monday, June 16, 2008

Lets get protected! (3rd party certification programme)

What is third party certification programs?

Procedure by which an authoritative body gives formal recognition that a body or person is competent to carry out specific tasks.


Application of third party certification prgramme in Malaysia is Telekom Malaysia Berhad(TM), the country's leading provider of information and communication technologies, has become the first service provider in Malaysia and Southeast Asia to receive Malaysia is Telekom Malaysia Berhadthe Cisco® Quality of Service (QoS) Certification for its Multiservice Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN) service. This certification is designed to help businesses that are converging voice and data networks to evaluate providers of managed VPN services.

Part of the Cisco Powered Network Program, the IP VPN Multiservice QoS Certification verifies that TM is committed to meeting Cisco's best-practice criteria for the delivery of real-time voice and video services. The certification requires TM to undergo an annual third-party on-site assessment to validate that it follows best practices for delivering recommended levels of network performance (including latency, jitter and packet loss) and customer support. The certification also specifies that the service-level agreement must span the network from customer edge to customer edge in order to provide the end-to-end transparency and seamless management essential in a converged voice and data environment.

About TM

Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), a leading regional information and communications group, offers a comprehensive range of communication services and solutions in fixed-line, mobile, data and broadband. As one of the largest listed companies in Bursa Malaysia with an operating revenue of more than RM13 billion, TM is driven to deliver value to its stakeholders in a highly competitive environment.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco, is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. Cisco products are supplied in Malaysia by Cisco Systems International, BV.

Tips on how to safeguard our personal and financial data!

First, lets get to know what is personal and financial data;

Financial privacy

Information about a person's financial transactions, including the amount of assets, positions held in stocks or funds, outstanding debts, and purchases can be sensitive. If criminals gain access to informations such as a person's account or credit card numbers that person could become the victim of fraud or identity theft. Information about a person's purchases can reveal a great deal about that person's history, such as places they have visited, whom they have had contact with, products they use, their activities and habits, or medications they have used. In some cases corporations might wish to use this information to target individuals with marketing customized towards those individual's personal preferences, something which that person may or may not approve of.

Internet privacy

The ability to control what information one reveals about oneself over the Internet, and to control who can access that information, has become a growing concern. These concerns include whether email can be stored or read by third parties without consent, or whether third parties can track the web sites someone has visited. Another concern is whether web sites which are visited collect, store, and possibly share personally identifiable information about users.

To ensure that you don't fall prey to cyber fraud, here are few steps that can be taken;

1. Install a firewall. A firewall is a software program designed to allow good people in and keep bad people out. Most new computers come with firewalls integrated into their operating systems. Those who have a DSL or cable modem have an added layer of protection because these modems come with yet another firewall built in. If, however, you have an older computer or use dial up, you may need to buy a firewall separately and install it yourself.

2. Install and update antispyware and antivirus programs. Microsoft and numerous application vendors offer users regular updates to existing antispyware programs, so be on the lookout. As for antivirus protection, Symantec and Norton antivirus are popular choices. If you're looking to cut costs, Consumer Reports says Alwil Avast offers the best free virus protection available.Spyware protection software helps you to completely clean your computer of invasive threats. As a result, your computer will be clean and its performance will be better. Simply put, it will run a lot faster. Additionally, you will have protected your privacy - personal information, financial data, and your financial security will be protected. In the information age, where having just one piece of your personal information can ruin your life, protecting your personal privacy while online is of the utmost importance.

3. Avoid accessing financial information in public. Resist logging on to check your bank balance when working from a coffee shop that offers wireless access. These systems are convenient, but also unknown. Casual users have no way of assessing how sturdy their firewalls are.

4. Update your browser. Updating your browser on a regular basis can help plug up security holes, so make it a habit.

5. Look for "locks." How can you tell if your financial site is really secure before you log on? The Web address should start with "https," instead of "http," says Weston. Also, look for small lock icon in the lower-right corner of the browser window.

6. Don't open mystery attachments. Never open an attachment or click on a link sent to you by an unknown party. Attachments can contain viruses and links can lead unsuspecting users to dummy sites where they are asked to input financial information.

7. Manage your computer usage behavior. If you download most anything for free – movies, software, music, etc., then you can anticipate being exposed to highly aggressive forms of Spyware.

Phishing.Phishing.Phishing.

Phishing

Definition: The act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft.

Phishing is an attempt to criminally and fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. [Definition by Wikipedia]

>>Examples:

(i)*PayPal*

The lack of a personal greeting, although the presence of personal details would not be a guarantee of legitimacy. Other signs that the message is a fraud are misspellings of simple words and the threat of consequences such as account suspension if the recipient fails to comply with the message's requests.

The lack of a personal greeting, although the presence of personal details would not be a guarantee of legitimacy. Other signs that the message is a fraud are misspellings of simple words and the threat of consequences such as account suspension if the recipient fails to comply with the message's requests.

(ii)*ebay*

Scammers phish on ebay to obtain eBay ID's which then are used to sell fake or non-existent goods or such accounts can be sold further in the underground market. In other words, the new owners of stolen eBay ID's now are equipped with positive feedback, previously generated by the real owner, and are now used to scam people.

>>Prevention Methods:

(i)Social responses

One strategy for combating phishing is to train people to recognize phishing attempts, and to deal with them. Education can be promising, especially where training provides direct feedback.

People can take steps to avoid phishing attempts by slightly modifying their browsing habits. When contacted about an account needing to be "verified" (or any other topic used by phishers), it is a sensible precaution to contact the company from which the e-mail apparently originates to check that the e-mail is legitimate.

Alternatively, the address that the individual knows is the company's genuine website can be typed into the address bar of the browser, rather than trusting any hyperlinks in the suspected phishing message.


(ii)Browsers alerting users to fraudulent websites

Another popular approach to fighting phishing is to maintain a list of known phishing sites and to check websites against the list. Microsoft's IE7 browser, Mozilla Firefox

To mitigate the problem of phishing sites impersonating a victim site by embedding its images (such as logos), several site owners have altered the images to send a message to the visitor that a site may be fraudulent. The image may be moved to a new filename and the original permanently replaced, or a server can detect that the image was not requested as part of normal browsing, and instead send a warning image2.0, and Opera all contain this type of anti-phishing measure.


(iii)Beware of pop-ups

Pop-ups in one of the way for online fraudsters to creep a spyware in your computer. They usually come up with a message indicating that your computer is infected by a spyware, and provide a link that will suppose to eliminate those spyware.


(iv)Adjust you browser settings to tighten up security

If you receive an email with a bad link in it, add the link to your 'Restricted Sites'. To do this go to Control Panel -> Internet Options -> Security. On the 'Security' tab go to 'Restricted Sites', move the slider to 'high' and remember to add blocked sites so the computer knows whom to trust. Do the same in your email client and firewall.


(v)Legal responses

Companies have also joined the effort to crack down on phishing. On March 31, 2005, Microsoft filed 117 federal lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The lawsuits accuse "John Doe" defendants of obtaining passwords and confidential information. March 2005 also saw a partnership between Microsoft and the Australian government teaching law enforcement officials how to combat various cyber crimes, including phishing.


Identifying phishing,

How safe is our data?

As Internet users display more of their personal information on social networking Web sites, and office workers upload more sensitive data to online software programs, computer hackers are employing increasingly sophisticated methods to pry that information loose. In many cases, they are devising small attacks that can fly under the radar of traditional security software, while exploiting the trust users place in popular business and consumer Web sites.

With the use of Internet continues to expand and for the sake of convenience, more banks and thrifts are using the Web to conduct banking business and services. Like other growing countries, Malaysians, no doubt have taken into online banking system. However, how safe is our money from fraudsters, who are luring people to reveal their personal details using increasingly advanced scams and software? Each year, online banking customers are being defrauded of more than $25million. It often happened when victims, who have fallen to phishing scams, revealed that hoax emails are sent to their inboxes, convincing them as though they are from the organizations such as bank. These emails are designed to trick the unsuspecting consumers who then idly handed over their banking account numbers, passwords and PINS. Furthermore, sadly, customers are personally liable if they disclose their password or unreasonably delay reporting the fraud. In addition to the numbers of viruses unleashed each day to engulf public and organization who are relying on Internet, valuable and confidential data cannot be underestimated.

Nevertheless, online bankers don’t need to frown because as consumers rapidly took up Internet connection for their computers, banks have also upgraded their system and continuously implementing better security system that is able to look for fraud in real time and investigating technologies such as factor authentication. Two factors authentication is achieved when a keychain sized generator is attached and synched with the bank systems and this generator will generate ever changing code. The code is then purposed to be entered into the customer’s online banking login, combining with the existing passwords and this code is send to customers via SMS of mobile phone. In practice, only a small percentage of banks are using the two factor authentication due to inconvenience to customers and added costs to banks.

The law regulator and policies makers have also contribute their part to ensure online banking is safe for consumers. Most financial institutions are required by the law to abide in using 128-Bit SSL encryption. When one is doing online banking or purchasing over the web, one must ensure your information is being transferred securely. This can be done by checking whether the domain in front of the web address is displayed as https:// (Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer or HTTP over SSL). When the user is in such web page, it is hard for another party to steal valuable information from the webpage. In addition, one’s browser should also display a little lock image at the lower right hand corner of the page.

Being the consumer, one will also need to take precaution on their side. Consumers need to be alert that banks or financial institutions will not, via emails to enquire customers to enter security or financial details but through phone calls or letters. Most banks are targeted by such counterfeit website and cause millions of losses to both banks and public. Hence, if in doubt, a consumer should not hesitate to contact the subjected banks for confirmation. Online bankers also need to take heed and be responsible on the security of their personal computers and not being accessed by unauthorized users. Prevent from using public shared computers to carry out bank transactions, installing up-to-date anti-virus software and firewall and keeping pins and passwords information in safe place will also reduce the risk of data being exposed to hackers and theft. There is also news on hackers who successfully hacked into military system.

Cyber-shopping has also become increasingly popular in the local market. Although surfing Web and making for bargain in the comfort of your own home seem perfect, but one have to be cautious not to be exposed to threats to data and personal information theft.

This is especially the matter so when it comes to credit card payment for products offered for sale via the website. Although making credit card payments are no different from ordering on the phone, one still have to take safety measure to avoid identity theft and credit card fraud. Hence, online shoppers are advised to use a secure Web browser that encrypts confidential information. Moreover, one have to be conscious not to provide personal checking or savings account information to any online stores and avoid so-called “direct-withdrawals” from your accounts.

In contrast, online shoppers can be rest-assured to some extent on the issue of making credit card payments. For the reason being research has proved that online credit card transactions are as safe as face-to-face transactions. It is proven difficult to detect the exact number of sales and estimate credit card numbers because of its length. Credit card purchases are also well protected by special federal laws then merchandising with cash or check. Although cyber-shopping sounds scary but it actually gives the shopper a benefit which is the ability to check their account information from the comfort of one’s own home and identifying possibly fraudulent activities at anytime.
Though using online services seems exposing us to vulnerable threats to the security of our data, there are still enough sophisticated software and safety measures that can be taken by online users to prevent data loss.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Demise of MCI Communication (E-commerce failure and its causes)

1-800 MUSIC NOW was a short-lived venture by MCI communication to open a music store operated through automated telephone prompts. It also introduced one of the first ever serious attempts at an e-commerce music store. The service was run out of MCI's Consumer Markets Headquarters offices in Arlington, Virginia (Pentagon City)

MCI communication’s 1-800 Music Now, which permitted both telephone and online ordering of CD’s, shut down in December 1996, only one year after it was launched. Below are the few factor that causes the failure;

- weakness in the music industry that year, leading to deep discounting by retailers

- the site was not easy to use, consumers seemed to prefer ordering through traditional stores

- its prices were relatively high, compared once again to traditional stores.

Hail Dell! (E-commerce success and causes)

Dell is one of the world’s top providers of computer products and services such as servers, storage, workstations, notebook and notebooks computers, to businesses and consumers. The company has revenues of $38.2 billion worldwide and employs over 41,000 staff worldwide.
Due to its efficient supply chain management, Dell is capable of shiping a PC within 24 hours of receiving an order. This introduction of the internet and e-commerce has helped Dell improve this efficiency and profitability.


Dell manufactures the products and then sells them directly to the customer, Dell creates disintermediation – the outside retailer is cut out of the process. This reduces time and costs in the process and also ensures Dell is better positioned to understand its customers’ needs directly
Crucially, Dell’s supply chain costs are reduced on the storage side too by its efficient relationship between orders and production. Each individual PC that is ordered is only manufactured after the order is received and only using the freshest raw materials, which are delivered to the factory several times a day. This is known as just-in-time production or real-time production. There is no warehouse for either raw components or finished goods. Each computer has been paid for and has been built for a specific customer before it is shipped.


When internet technology arrived, Dell was quick to set up the e-commerce processes that would enable it to also sell directly online to customers. Selling online allows the whole process to be automated and more efficient.


Real time production ensures no costs are incurred from rising inventory stocks. Output is always driven by actual customer demand. Each individual product is created with the latest technology and each product is custom-made to exactly what the customer wants.


Dell is using automatic instructions that come up on screen. These allow consumer to customise the computer they wants with the features they needs. Dell also provides a variety of options on how to pay, either directly online or, via a customer service operator. There is even an automated leasing option available through a financing arrangement that Dell has here with Permanent TSB.


Consumer order is then passed automatically through to the production department at Dell's factory where it will be manufactured to their specification, tested and shipped out to them. Once manufactured, delivery typically takes few days. All of the systems relating to the sale are done through e-commerce: order placement, order tracking, payment processing, inspection, testing and delivery.


Similarly, internally at Dell, the whole purchase and procurement of materials is automated between Dell and its suppliers. At www.valuechain.dell.com , Dell shares information with its suppliers on a range of topics, including product quality and inventory.


The crucial benefit is the total automation of the whole process, which not only makes it faster and more efficient, but also much more cost effective, especially given the volume of business involved. Dell’s global website receives more than 1 billion page requests per quarter at 80 country sites in 28 languages and 26 currencies.


Dell’s approach to e-commerce simulates the benefits of face-to-face contact between the buyer and the seller. This ensures that staff can be focused on delivering the quality product and providing excellent customer service and support.

How E-commerce reduces cycle time, improve employees' empowerment & facilitate customer support.

[Reducing Cycle Time]

E-Commerce is one of the most important facets of the Internet to have emerged in the recent times. Ecommerce or electronic commerce involves carrying out business over the Internet with the assistance of computers, which are linked to each other forming a network. To be specific ecommerce would be buying and selling of goods and services and transfer of funds through digital communications.

Ecommerce allows people to carry out businesses without the barriers of time or distance. Be it day or night and purchase or sell anything one desires at a single click of the mouse.

For example, Dell applies e-commerce. The customers’ orders flow directly into Dell's manufacturing system where orders are built immediately. This helps save hours or days in processing time. It does not only help save processing time but also helps Dell to quickly respond to customers’ needs.

Another example is FedEx. Speed to market is imperative. Getting new products to market before the next wave of innovation is critical. Customers expect the right product at the right time, especially for their last-minute shopping and emergencies. All these pressures can challenge even the most well-planned supply chain. E-commerce has seen to better help improve their delivery services in terms of fast and efficient delivery services. Time is again saved.

[Employee Empowerment]

E-Commerce allows the decentralization of decision making and authority via empowerment and distributed systems, but simultaneously supports a centralized control.

Many companies used the Internet to facilitate empowerment, sharing information, and "best practices." The Internet became an important tool for gathering and sharing information, resulting in direct comparisons within an organization and among organizations. As firms become more knowledge and solution driven, and less product and service motivated, the need for empowerment and collaboration will increase.

Example, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) business empowerment benefit through collaboration and business process. All thanks to E-commerce. In SOA, a call center management team responds to customer complaints by reworking how call center reps handle incoming calls. They follow up with the complaints themselves, specifically they make the right decisions to take corrective actions.

[Customer Support]

E-commerce enables consumers to shop or do other transaction 24 hours a day, all year round from almost any location. It provides consumers with more choices and with less expensive products and services by allowing them to shop in many places. In addition, they can also make comparisons.

Besides that, E-commerce also allows quick delivery of products and services (in some cases) especially digital products. Consumers can receive relevant and detail information in seconds rather than in days or weeks. E-commerce will make it possible for consumers to participate in virtual auctions.

For example, by allowing customers to track delivery of parcels in real time, the Federal Express website keeps customers in touch with the location of their goods and when they will arrive. Automatic Teller Machines (ATM’s) are now well used by most bank customers, who, although some still express feelings about the lack of personal interaction with bank staff, generally would not want to return to the old system of standing in a queue for personal service. They feel more in control of the transaction process and can access their information any time.

Providing superior delivery, support and feedback helps improve customer service and thus customer support will also be improved.

Birth and evolution of E-commerce

HISTORY

After with the introduction of me and my group mates, it is time to move the spot light to introducing our main character of the blog, Mr. E-commerce. E-commerce, came from electronic commerce, which is an activity of buying and selling of products and services through electronic systems such as internet and other computer networks. From what we have gathered, the usage of trade conducted electronically has grown tremendously since the introduction and spread of the Internet.

Electronic commerce has changed over the last 30 years with new discoveries and development of technology. In the early year, electronic commerce meant the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically.Technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) were both introduced in the late 1970s, allowing businesses to send commercial documents like invoices or purchase orders electronically. In the 1980s, new forms of electronic commerce such as credit cards, automated teller machine (ATM) and telephone banking are introduced. From the 1990s onwards, electronic commerce would additionally include enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing.

Perhaps it is introduced from the Telephone Exchange Office, or maybe not. Boston Computer is the earliest example of many-to-many electronic commerce in physical goods where they monopoly market for used computers launched in 1982. The first online information marketplace, including online consulting, was likely the American Information exchange, another pre-Internet online system introduced in 1991. Below are the evolution time line where new discoveries and development that changed e-commerce;


  • 1990: Tim Berners-Lee wrote the first web browser, WorldWideWeb (www), using a NeXT computer.

  • 1992: J.H. Snider and Terra Ziporyn published Future Shop: How New Technologies Will Change the Way We Shop and What We Buy. St. Martin's Press.

  • 1994: Netscape released the Navigator browser in October under the code name Mozilla. Pizza Hut offered pizza ordering on its Web page. The first online bank opened. Attempts to offer flower delivery and magazine subscriptions online. Adult materials were also commercially available, as were cars and bikes. Netscape 1.0 in late 1994 introduced SSL encryption that made transactions secure.

  • 1995: Jeff Bezos launched Amazon.com and the first commercial-free 24 hour, internet-only radio stations, Radio HK and Netradio started broadcasting. Dell and Cisco began to aggressively use Internet for commercial transactions. eBay was founded by computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as AuctionWeb.

  • 1998: Electronic postal stamps can be purchased and downloaded for printing from the Web.

  • 1999: business.com was sold for US $7.5 million, which was purchased in 1997 for US $150,000. The peer-to-peer filesharing software Napster was launched.

  • 2000: The dot-com bust.

  • 2003: Amazon.com had its first year with a full year of profit.

For extra e-commerce history visit www.ecommercetimes.com

Introducing TheanYew!

Hi everyone…
I'm Thean Yew, a happy go lucky person from Kedah which is taking Bachalor of Business Administration Entrepreneurship in UTAR.
This subject- “E-Commerce” is new for me and this is my 1st time blogging here. Feel so strange to this subject but luckily I got some interest to learn something new.

The 5 websites that I always visited:
Google

Friendster

YouTube

TheStar

Public Bank

The reason that I always visited those websites:
Google – is the most comment search engine that have huge database with a fast speed.

Frienster – the main websites for teenagers to have enlarge their network and meet some friends around the world.

YouTube – the website that allowed me to view some interesting video clip on net with free of charges.

TheStar – an English newspaper that most famous in Malaysia, with this lovely website, its let me to updating myself with the latest news.

Public Bank – with internet services, it provides internet banking and transaction in 24/7/356, its actually save a lot of time and effort to keep away from cue up in the bank or ATM just for some transaction of information

A brief introduction of myself,Christable =)

Hey! I'm Christable Hermione a/p Polycarp.

::You can refer me as Chris or Belle::Whichever you're comfortable with::I'm a Ipoh Mali baby::I'm 21 turning 22 on 6th September this year::I'm a mix(chindian)::I'm currently pursuing a bachelors degree in Business Administration majoring in Entrepreneurship~final crucial year(Year3Sem1)-UTAR::Well lets hope for the best as i know and believe that the BEST is yet to come::I'm a people person::I LOVE the people i associate with,especially my family and friends::I respect every individual who love themselves and pity those who destroy their life by trying to be someone else*tsktsktsk*:: Music is my ecstasy::Challenges excite me,making me strive for more::I seek for fun and am an adrenaline junkie!::HAHAHA::

*I'm a girl who laughs a lot.Whines none stop.Complicated.Fun.Bubbly*
*Hobbies : shopping+travelling+music+jalan-jalan cari makan+mamak-ing+parties*


Add me up to get more close and personal::
>>msn:moncheri_chf@hotmail.com
>>facebook:chris_casual_chic@yahoo.com
>>friendster:chris_casual_chic@yahoo.com



The top 5 websites that i surf the most are :
1)Yahoo
2)Google
3)Facebook
4)Friendster
5)YouTube

I usually log on to Yahoo to check,read and reply emails. Google is a site where i search for information for tutorials,assignments and obtaining answers to my queries. I'm quite addicted to Facebook and Friendster. I usually log on to these 2 sites to stay in touch with friends and family and also for networking purposes. YouTube is a site where i usually search for music clips and also funny videos.

Top 5 Internet activities :
1)Check email
2)Info search
3)Plain Chatting
4)Networking (Facebook&Friendster)
5)Watch videos (music clips)

Thanx for the review and please leave a comment.even a simple one will be much appreciated.till then.tata. =)

*B e l l e*

ChinHan in da House!

Greetings to everyone who visited this blog. Before going any further, let me briefly introduce myself, goes by the name Looi Chin Han. Born in the heritage city of Ipoh which is famous for good foods and breath-taking scenery. Loves futsal-ing, mamak-ing, lepak-ing and computer games. Currently in final year pursuing my degree in Bachelor of Business Administration majoring Entrepreneurship in University Tunku Abdul Rahman, Sg Long campus. The reason for me and my group mates started this blog is because it is an assignment requirement for one of our subject UBAI3013 E-commerce. Besides that, by starting this blog too will help us realise the important and benefits of blogging nowadays such as information sharing and for future business. I spend most of my daily time checking here and there in the internet. Normally i will play games, information seeking, chit-chatting with friends and surfing as part of my internet activities. Here are the list of 5 most visited website by me and why do i check on them;

-
ESPN soccernet.com

Reading news, reports and analyze on football events and activities in the world.

- lowyat forum

Joining the community and discuss on the latest news, gadgets and much more stuff to be discuss there.

- thestar.com

Getting on the latest news of nation and international.

- youtube.com

Spend some of the free time searching for useful clips to enjoy.

- facebook.com

Getting updates of friends.

Lastly, thanks for visiting our blog and hope that all of you will visit us now and then for updates.

Contact me at msn: paullooi@hotmail.com

p/s: this blog is done by amateur blogger, so...do excuse us for being simple.

- cheers -