E-Commerce Applications Increase Risks

These new e-commerce applications can have a dark side. They can open a direct pipeline to the enterprise’s most valuable information assets, presenting a tempting target for fraud, malicious hackers, and industrial espionage.

Appropriate protections are a prerequisite for doing business, both for an organization’s credibility with its stakeholders and its financial viability. For example:

• The bank and airline in a joint venture may compete in other areas or through other partnerships. A secure barrier, permitting only authorized transactions, must be erected between the two enterprise computing environments.

• The bank offering currency-trading needs to protect the integrity of its core systems from unauthorized transfers or tampering.

• The manufacturer posting proprietary discoveries needs to ensure that their competitors or subcontractors cannot tap into the system. Attacks from both the outside and inside must be blocked^[1].