New security issues threaten to hinder e-commerce growth

SA businesses are facing an increasing opportunity in the global Internet environment, providing that Internet security threats are carefully considered and proactive security measures should be included in all e-commerce planning.

While designing business practices around the Internet is the single biggest opportunity for companies to remain competitive in the new global economy, few organisations have realised that the web is also the source of one of the biggest potential threats to their continued survival.

"Increasing use of the Internet as a business tool has exposed a completely new set of security threats," says Bernard May, visiting Senior Product manager from in California, US. "Unless the Internet is tamed, organisations not only stand to lose millions of rands in revenue, but may also be facing legal action."

The threat goes far beyond exposure to malicious viruses, he says. "Abuse of the Internet and email by company employees has been identified as having a marked unfavourable affect on a company's bottom line. Unfortunately, most companies are not even aware of the extent of their losses because they are unaware of the magnitude of the problem."

"Even in the US, a country considered to be at the forefront of e-commerce development, businesses yet has to realise the full extent of this problem," says May. "Few companies in the US have adequate protection against all forms of Internet abuse. This figure is assumed to be even higher in South Africa." According to the there has been a 323% increase in loss of proprietary information since 1998 at a value of $24 billion. Loss of confidential information, decreasing employee productivity and impact on bandwith, as well as corporate and personal liability issues are just some of the new problems companies are having to deal with.

According to a 1998 survey released by Computer Security Institute, 64% of corporations and other organisations report security breaches in email, as opposed to 16% in 1997. Clearly, this problem is on the increase.

"Without appropriate security measures in place, it's the easiest thing in the world for a disgruntled employee to email confidential company information to a competitor," explains May.

Uncontrolled Internet access is another problem affecting companies. "The web has become an essential resource for many employees. Unfortunately, most of the time it's not to research work-related matters. Employers do not realise how much time their employees spend surfing the web to obtain stock quotes, visit pornographic or sport sites, engage in Internet chats, or just to browse randomly."

Research done by Forrester has shown that 97% of US companies report employee Internet abuses, and only 27% of major US firms check their employees' email.

Besides a decrease in productivity, which in turn leads to a decrease in overall company performance, May points out that Internet and email abuse can even result in legal action. "Much of the material found on the web can be considered offensive to employees and companies can easily find themselves in the middle of a sexual harassment or racial lawsuit," he says.

The only way companies are going to beat this problem is by taking proactive, responsible action, says May. "Policies and work practices need to be defined, and employees must be made aware of what is acceptable practice for the organisation. "The best way to implement these policies effectively is through content security software." "Companies that ignore the issues of Internet abuse and security are expected not to thrive in the new economy," says May. "It's not security, it 's simply the way you get things done in the new ".