Protecting Online Transactions from Intruders

In today’s information technology world people are increasingly dependent on the internet for quality life. The E commerce platforms have presented attractive proliferation in this regard. Because of this a significant amount of research has been conducted in the field of e commerce resulting in a variety of algorithms as well as techniques for electronic trading on the internet. A key problem which arises is how to conduct these transactions safely and the prime reason for the security problems having arisen is because of the fact. a. Data can be easily manipulated in the form of some commercial information like the account number which can easily be defamed in plain text b. Information along with source can be easily shared. A number of users in different locations can access the information from different computers (Chen, Zhang and Zhang, 2008). Credit card thefts on the internet has reached alarming proportions and people who handle cards as well as expiration dates can compare it with chemical handling and need to exercise due care and diligence in handing grave information of such nature. The risk of thefts as well as frauds are on the risk as the databases along with the systems are targeted. The problem is all the more compounded as in the coming days online banking will become the most important part of the services of the online bank. All the online transactions will be paid by e banks including retail purchases, bookings as well as stock trading under business to business scenario. The prime motto of the banks to provide online services is to attract the customers as well as make profit in the intermediately business (Qin, 2009). On the other side of the coin the expenses are greatly reduced in online banking except the cost of construction, maintenance as well as network development. In fact as the internet as well as the ecommerce will become popular in the days to come, online services will be more extensive as well as complete, and evolve all the parties to the transactions to make payments indoors. There are many challenges to be overcome if the online domain has to achieve its full potential. The fact of the matter is that nearly $ 3.8 billions of dollars is lost annually due to lack of confidence on the part of the customers considering the current security measures provided for ecommerce. Online shoppers are nearly abandoning the shopping cart 60 % of the time. So the urgent need of the hour is to assess the factors that may force the customers to accept as well as reject online shopping. A better understanding of the facts which prompt the customers to undertake such a situation needs to be studied by the vendors in particular (Flick, 2009). There is tremendous scope of improvement in the area of transaction completion.

One of the major advantages with online transactions is that people doing the work can interact with the system while the transactions are being processed. This saves a lot of time as well effort (Dyk, Bey-Miller and Clough, 2009). It needs to be kept in mind that no online transactions are 100 % full proof and frauds are bound to happen once in a while but clearly it is mechanism worth adapting as the advantages clearly outnumber the

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advantages with online banking are as follows

• No online banking is ever closed and you can make transactions round the clock. In addition to this online banking is available wherever internet is available so your virtually carry the bank along with you

• Secondly one can manage all their account details from the website of the company. In addition to this one can also download their personal statements into the financial management system

• The cyber banks have no physical buildings which contributes the saving on the overhead costs to a considerable extent. Because of these reasons one can get low rates of interest as well as have better facilities in terms of services (Shelly et al, 2008).

In addition to this all the transactions must have audit trails and the manager of the sales team should approve the orders that exceed a specific value. Other than this the system must generate an error file which clear depicts the error type, description as well as value. Transaction volume have a significant impact on the operating costs and when volume exceeds the system’s capacity the maintenance costs are bound to rise all the more. In other words a new internet based internet based marketing effort may require an additional server along with a 24 hour technical support. Some of the other major advantages of online banking are the speed at which the transactions are conducted. it is very convenient as one can sit and do it in the comfort of their rooms and perhaps the greatest advantage is the time factor. A traditional bank has a cut off time whereas online bank does not have so. So all this promises a rosy future when it comes to the domain of online banking.

A staggering piece of statistics reveal that nearly 90 % of the population is unhappy when they conduct online transactions. The consumers feel that the websites are broken and the transactions do not yield the desired output. What is more alarming is the fact that this number has not improved a fraction by even a single figure in the last 3 years or so. Double spending problems arise in many places where online transactions are required. In fact digital cash and online contract signing are good examples of applications that have successfully addressed these issues (DeFigueiredo, 2008). The implementation of online banking and online stock trading can be interrelated. In many cases a financial institution offers both these services. The financial international banking online banks tend to carry some risks. The first risk is that many people think that the hackers can log into the account and obtain the necessary information. Other than this many believe that the virtual banks carry liquidity risk which means they do not have sufficient funds at their disposal and cannot meet their obligations and this could be more also (Tuban, 2006). It is rare to provide for a business environment that provides advantages without having its share of problems as well. Electronic commerce is not all that different and problem may arise for both the online business as well as the online consumer. For example online business accounts for 24 % of credit card fraud as compared to 6 % of fraud which arise from other transactions. For the online merchants the ratio of completed to initiated transactions would be not all that encouraging as 60 % of the transactions are abandoned due to lack of online support as the need for security measures as well as standardised legal protocol should be in place. The prime reason for the problems arising are the due to unproven technologies as well as the complex techniques. The fact of the matter is that e merchants who present the customer with a long process of initiating transactions are the ones to suffer most in terms of business. Security happens to be most important factor when it comes to online shopping and 58 % of the population feels the same and only 10 % are least bothered about security when they conduct transactions online. One of the greatest disadvantages from the e commerce web sites is that business only continues to flourish when the website is up and running. A web site which has problems and is not running properly will not have the desired impact in terms of profitability. Since the medium for most of the online transactions is credit cards and they do not have to be physically present the chances of fraud increases all the more. Another disadvantage for the ecommerce companies is the easy entry into the market place driven by lack of competition. From the customer’s point of view the risks are related to frauds as well as potential security problems. In addition to this one of the major disadvantages which the customers face is not being able to see and feel the goods before purchasing them. In fact this limitation may improve as the web and the internet technology improves where they can view the products before purchasing them. One of the effective techniques in this regard is high resolution 3D photographs (Morley and Parker, 2011).

The e merchants must evaluate the steps taken to prevent online fraud, security as well as privacy violations along with attacks from intruders. Although

urgent need of the hour is to take actions relating to prevent theft, protect sensitive information and foil destructive attacks. Online frauds can occur in a number of ways. Electronic page alteration as well as identification frauds are the most common. Identification fraud occurs when a thief uses the credit card of a customer and makes an online purchase and later denies that he had in fact made the purchase. On the other side electronic price tag alterations occurs when the hackers manipulate the shopping code cart and manipulate the prices. It is estimated that one third of all shopping carts have loopholes in the software. To control the database along with the control system the traditional password protection has not yielded the sufficient results. Ecommerce security measures needs to ensure that both the parties to the transaction must be mutually identified. If this mutual authentication process is adopted it prevents the intruders from acquiring valuable information or goods under false pretences. Encrypting and decrypting the information before it is sent and processed can protect the transactions communications in a big way. It is also essential e commerce transaction should be secured against theft also (Newman, 2010). Intruders modify the settings as well as the configuration files. The slow performance of the systems, rebooting as well as missing logs are the major indications of possible intrusions to come. Intrusion attacks can reduce the size of the files as well as lead to loss of files. In fact intruders try to attack the system through various ways. To keep the system secure it is necessary to prevent the system as well as restrict unauthorized entry. The intruders can either be outsiders as well as insiders to the system. Intrusion detection is a mechanism by which the intruders can be detected (James, 2010). The intrusion detection as well as intrusion prevention system (IDS) are deployed in the networks to prevent attempts of intrusion as well as prevent any sort of intrusion. In fact they are also installed in networks and a classical example of one would be firewall. But the fact of the matter is that providing antivirus software as well as firewall protection is a thing of the past. Traditionally signature campaign method has also been found difficult to keep pace with it and it has been discarded to a large extent. It is quite clear that cyber security cannot be improved without proper authentication, and identity management is not about identifying people only. The authentication mechanisms involved ensure that the data is trustworthy, secure as well as the hardware and software network and devices are genuine. Identity management has the ability to help the It also enhances protection through additional protection against the inappropriate release of personal identifiable information. In hindsight it helps to get rid of the unwanted intruders (USNSC, 2011). To prevent the online frauds from intruders an online platform should address the following facets

• Authorization to ensure that the trading partners are aware of the prices set as well as the contracts agreed upon

• How the discount agreements will be kept confidential and how the advertised prices will be maintained

• How the transaction details (payment and delivery history) will be protected and the confidentiality maintained

• How loss of transactions or duplicate transactions can be avoided

• Payment methods and if necessary on how the credit card frauds will be dealt (Reuvid, 2006)

The most popular as well as difficult form of fraud to control is known as shilling. This is the process where one builds up the price of an auction item without any intention of buying it. The fraudulent people may either be the vendor or someone who is in close relation to him. All the website auction owners aim to protect the authenticity of the transactions by having a proper monitoring system in place. So the age old theory of let the buyer beware while purchasing any item on the internet needs to be followed in case of any online purchasing (Canzer, 2006). To address the growing concerns of the customers about online purchasing, major credit card organizations like master card as well as visa have formulated various security measures which prevent the fraudulent use of credit cards on the internet. In addition to this stronger encryption systems have also been put in place to ensure that the cards are not misused in any way. For example the secure electronic transaction (SET) prevents the merchants from seeing any information of the credit card of the individual. This is created in such a manner that ensures that the merchant, customer as well as third party share partial information of data.

The future of internet advertisement will be to encourage consumer interaction with brands. As the digital technology matures internet advertising will

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of control and in the online world user’s control the message in which they engage. So a two way relationships need to be stressed where the demonstration of value is communicated to the customer. But in the midst of all this it needs to be kept in mind that interactivity is a two way demand, consumers may demand a particular product, but someone has to rise to the challenge and provide it also (Thorson, 2007). The system of money management is all the more important when it comes to the domain of online transactions. In fact no system of money management is without its own set of flaws, while they are some methods which are better than the others. Some of the mechanisms which could be adopted are

• Pro- easy access – with online account access, one can review their transactions at any point of time. This will help you figure out how much you have paid for a particular service or whether the vendor has received the payment. This is a great way to sort out problems that may arise in your account from time to time. This will also reduce the changes of identity theft to the least extent possible

• Ease of use- Most of the financial services of the bank is automated and one would do little to merge the financial records together. Paper documentation and entering information manually is a thing of the past. In this regard some form of budgeting tool will improve things to a considerable extent (Butler, 2011).

Considering the other side of the coin there are some loopholes associated with it also. Not all the transactions appear in the online details and one needs to take some time off during the month and review the transactions. For example some merchants who preauthorize transactions will temporarily make a list of such transaction and this may not be of the actual purchase. These transactions would often reflect as pending in your online account information. Other than this while logging into your account you are generally confronted with a barrage of information. Be rest assured of the fact that you are going to encounter at least one product from your bank

The online platform is the buzzword in the days to come and undoubtedly will grow leaps and bounds. Each and every business irrespective of its nature will be forced to embrace this mechanism and hence the protection factor becomes all the more important. The organizations will look to introduce encryption as well as authentication solutions to secure the online transactions and allow the element of trust to be created between the online trading partners. The benefits will be great, but the costs as well as the management of it will not be all that painful also. systems do not implement any sort of security technology, which is the basis for trusted transactions. So in the coming days any sort of online auction systems should be monitored with security features like SSL as well as a privacy policy. It needs to be understood that such portfolios are attracting a large base of customers and the major difference between a physical as well as an online approach is the management part. Adequate steps should also be taken pertaining to credit card frauds.

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14. Thorson, E. (2007). Internet Advertising: Theory And Research. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum 15. Butler, T. (2011). The Complete Guide to Your Personal Finances Online: Step-By-Step. Florida: Atlantic