Specifications

Centralization can cut costs. If you have numerous physical sites, you need to pay numerous
rents and overheads, staff at all of them, and the costs of maintaining inventory at each. An
Internet business can be in one location, but be accessible all over the world.
Risks and Threats
Every business faces risks, competitors, theft, fickle public preferences, and natural disasters,
among other risks. The list is endless. However, many risks that e-commerce companies face
are either less of a risk, or not relevant, to other ventures. These risks include
• Crackers
• Failing to attract sufficient business
• Computer hardware failure
• Power, communication, or network failures
• Reliance on shipping services
• Extensive competition
• Software errors
• Evolving governmental policies and taxes
• System-capacity limits
Crackers
The best-publicized threat to e-commerce comes from malicious computer users known as
crackers. All businesses run the risk of becoming targets of criminals, but high profile
e-commerce businesses are bound to attract the attention of crackers with varying intentions
and abilities.
Crackers might attack for the challenge, for notoriety, to sabotage your site, to steal money, or
to gain free goods or services.
Securing your site involves a combination of
• Keeping backups of important information
• Having hiring policies that attract honest staff and keep them loyal—the most dangerous
attacks can come from within
• Taking software-based precautions, such as choosing secure software and keeping it
up-to-date
• Training staff to identify targets and weaknesses
• Auditing and logging to detect break-ins or attempted break-ins
Running an E-commerce Site
C
HAPTER 12
12
RUNNING AN
E-COMMERCE SITE
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