In order to decrease the risk of security and use the website more safety, there are six ways to safe online transactions. Firstly, install a firewall. A firewall is a software program designed to allow good people in and keep bad people out. Most new computers come with firewalls integrated into their operating systems. Those who have a DSL or cable modem have an added layer of protection because these modems come with yet another firewall built in. If, however, you have an older computer or use dial up, you may need to buy a firewall separately and install it yourself.

Secondly, install and update anti-spyware and antivirus programs. Microsoft and numerous application vendors offer users regular updates to existing anti-spyware programs, so be on the lookout. As for antivirus protection, Symantec and Norton antivirus are popular choices. If you're looking to cut costs, Consumer Reports says Alwil Avast offers the best free virus protection available.

Lastly, do not open mystery attachments. Never open an attachment or click on a link sent to you by an unknown party. Attachments can contain viruses and links can lead unsuspecting users to dummy sites where they are asked to input financial information. In addition, there are few secure symbols to look for when browsing a particular website. For example, webtrust and verisign secure site.

In September, tens of thousands of customers' names and contact information of Automatic Data Processing (ADP) and SunTrust Banks (STI) were stolen from Salesforce.com, which provides online customer management software for those two companies. The incident occurred after a hacker tricked a Salesforce employee into disclosing a password.

Phishing: Examples and its prevention methods

Phishing is an attempt to criminally obtain sensitive information of the others. These information include usernames, passwords and credit card details. Phishing is done by the mastermind impersonating a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. An e-mail is sent to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering sensitive information that will be used for identity theft. Usually a link is included in this e-mail for the victims to click. The link in the e-mail directs the user to visit a web site that is professionally developed to look exactly the same as the website they claim to be from where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers, that the legitimate organization already has. PayPal is one of the many examples that phishers has tried to impersonate. PayPal was spelled wrongly in this phishing attempt in the e-mail and the presence of an IP address in the link are both clues that this is a phishing attempt. Another giveaway is the lack of a personal greeting, although the presence of personal details would not be a guarantee of legitimacy. Other signs that the message is a fraud are misspellings of simple words and the threat of consequences such as account suspension if the recipient fails to comply with the message's requests.

In Malaysia, banks are among the most popular target of phishers. Maybank2u.com.my is one of them. The phishers deceive the user with the purpose of stealing their login data and PIN number. Cross-site scripting and Trojan horses can also be used to steal such information.

There are several different methods and techniques to avoid being phished. The Golden rule is to never ever click the website links within the text of the e-mail. Typing the link on your web browser is always preferable. Delete such e-mails immediately as they may be infected with virus as well. Once you have deleted the e-mail then empty the trash box in your e-mail client as well to prevent "accidental" clicks. The alternative way is train people to recognize phishing attempts. Users should not trust any hyperlinks in suspected phishing messages.

Since phishing is based on impersonation, preventing it depends on some reliable methods to determine a website's real identity. For example, some anti-phishing toolbars display the domain name for the visited website. The “Petname” extension for Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer lets users type in their own labels for websites, so they can later recognize when they have returned to the site. If the site is suspected, then the software may either warn the user or block the site immediately. The screenshots below shows phishers attempts at phishing

This few years e-commerce becomes very popular and broad in the world. Most of the transaction between suppliers and buyers is deal through e-commerce. Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. I even will use e-commerce to make some transactions rather than approach to the outlet because it is more convenient and save time. I just need to click on the keyboard then can get what I want. I think this is the reason why e-commerce is useful.

However, there is failure on e-commerce also. When you set up an e-marketplace in the Internet to sell your products, you have to promote or advertise the website to make it well-known among the Internet users. Sometimes it may not easy to do or achieve. When you are successful, it can boost up your sales. Besides that, the income that had yield must be enough to cover all the cost like advertising and marketing. An example of this situation is eToys.com which established only four years then closed down in year 2001. eToys.com spent millions on advertising, marketing, and technology and battled a host of competitors. And like many of its failed brethren, all that spending outweighed the company's income, and investors quickly jumped ship. This caused the share price decreased from a high of $84 per share in year 1999 to a low of just 9 cents per share in year 2001.

I can see that, to make a website or e-marketplace to be well-known is not easy. The master of the website must be able to make profit which cost of maintaining the site no more than the income received. If not, what is the purpose of running an e-market?

In the globalize business environment, a business need to maintain its competitive edge in order to be successful. With the advancement of technologies, an organization can boost up its profit easily by applying E-commerce.

E-commerce is a system that allows an organization to communicate with its business partners, such as suppliers and customers by the use of electronic devices. With the use of electronic devices, it helps the organization to cut down the business cycle time. Cycle time refers to the length between a customer placing an order and the goods being sent to customer. For instance, when the customer made an order through the company’s webpage, the order will automatically registered into the company’s database, and sent the purchase order to related departments simultaneously. Similarly, when the stock has reached reorder level, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system will automatically send an E-mail to the supplier to make the necessary orders.

Besides that, E-commerce also helps the organization to facilitate better empowerment to employees. With the front end system, no employee is needed to interact with the customer while the customer is making order. While the employees are empowered to work on back end activities such as inventory management, accounting and finance, payment processing, delivery, etc. By doing this, an organization can have only little employees to run a business, while employees’ morale can be increased by empowerment.

The key factor for a business to be successful is the ability to retain its customers. E-commerce able to provide a few “24/7” customer supports, such as user friendly “step-by-step” guidance, frequently asked questions, search engines, etc. Besides that, the online system includes customer service center, which specifically solve customers’ queries and deal with customers’ complaints. Feedbacks from customers are very important because it helps the company to identify the weaknesses, as well as the customers’ needs.