Securities Push Up A Must For Web Companies

The incredible success story of the Dot-com industry has sporadically been marred by security lapses. From the rubble of the Internet bubble, some security lessons have been learnt. With a significant number of companies going bust because of a lack of robust security system, information security has become a serious concern for the dot-com firms.

To survive in this highly competitive global scenario, dot-com companies need a reliable service, sound infrastructure and a trusting customer base. The simple formula of a catchy domain name, lots of banner advertising and a greedy venture capitalist to attract customers, seems to have lost its efficacy. There is a paradigm shift from creating attractive and good-looking web pages to strengthening built-in security measures.

Industry experts assert that good defense is an important selling point to attract customers and ensure their loyalty. In the changing threat environment, there have been several instances of password theft. Credit card details of a large number of customers have been stolen and sites have been hacked. Denial-of-service (DoS) attacks have made websites of online companies inaccessible. All this has made the customers and the dot-com companies aware of the possible security threats. Today, customers demand an assured security system in addition to an accurate and a reliable internal system.

Building a strong security system is a challenging task for dot-com companies. To remain competent they must cut costs and reduce delivery time. Addition of security levels causes delay in delivery, while testing consumes additional time, causing further delay. All this adds extra cost. Dot-com firms were initially averse to investing so much of time and money and believed that these measures could prove to be counterproductive. There was also a perceived invincibility regarding the services of these firms, both among the customers and the service provider. Not any more.

Today, information security involves much more than simply protecting the credit card details in transit. It should also have integrity and should provide confidentiality and availability. Confidentiality ensures that credit card details are stored reliably, in case the database is hacked. Availability means that the service should be capable of surviving system failures and even DoS attacks. The service should be functionally reliable in the sense that once initiated, it should keep the customer informed as to whether or not their order has been placed successfully. These factors are instrumental in retaining and strengthening customer trust.

In the aftermath of the initial failure of dot-com companies, have undertaken major steps to provide immunity to their services from any kind of illegal interference. However, awareness and perpetual evolution remain the only effective weapons of protection.

Related article: Security Flaw Puts HSBC Customers At Risk

» SPAMfighter News - 10-06-2006

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