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eSecurity |
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No matter how secure you think your website is, someone at some stage will try to illegally try to enter your website. We shall now try to examine some simple security measures that can be applied to any web business. If your business operates an internal computer network, security and integrity can be maintained by using security id tags for all users on the computer system. This would entail a simple user ID and password which give a user access to the computer network. The network administrator would be able to set the level access available to a user at any time, this would be in turn based on the position of the user within a business. If your web-site is going to be a portal for your customers to access data about your stocks, their orders, etc, it would be advisable that a SSL system is used to process ordering on-line (visit the Merchant Account). Again it is advisable all customers are given a password which is regularly up-dated, and only allows partial access to your computer network. You have to bear in mind that customers may want some form of messaging system to contact people in your business for help and advice In order to ensure the highest level of security for your web-site and existing computer system, ensure the computer used to develop the web-site is not linked to your computer network. This will ensure no-one who gains access to the web-site can actually enter your business network. YOUR WEB HOSTING SERVICE PROVIDER Before you choose a specific hosting service (somewhere which holds your web-site and transmits across the internet) ensure your web host can give you appropriate certificates confirming their services meet the highest security standards available. In all information transactions carried out within your business, make sure you know who information is coming from, what type of information is being transmitted and where the information is going to. Having properly established user id's and passwords will show this data in it's true light as only the users who access the computer network with their passwords will have the correct access rights. You may be very surprised to learn that if you sent an email from the UK to another nation, that national government may have the right to randomly open an email and read it's details. Similarly your computer network may have bogus email recipients who wish for commercial reasons gain as much information about your business as possible. Where one business communicates over international boundaries it is highly advisable to use encryption software to protect the content of emails from being illegally opened. The software is relatively simple to install and can only be opened with correct codes to unlock the emails. If your business, has been set up on the internet to provide an information service it is advisable as a simple security measure, you may wish to your business has copyrights in place to prevent another web-site copying all your data and publishing the data without your consent. No matter how secure you may think your computer system is, there will always be the un-known element, take regular measures to try and break-in to your computer system, to test it's integrity. |
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