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ABSTRACT
Taking ones goods or services to the internet definitely increases
the potential of the business in all ways. But the utilization of the
e-commerce in business transactions requires commitment to safe
and secures transactional details that include credit card
information and financial details from the customers. The rapid
growth of e-commerce has also brought its own challenges on
security threats that are also growing at the same rate. Identity
theft and data security breaches are common complaints among
online customers. The safety of online transaction is a major
concern to all customers who shop and bank online. These
research paper looks at the safety of all online transactions.
General Terms
Your general terms must be any of the following 16 designated
terms: Management, Measurement, Documentation, Performance,
Design, Economics, Reliability, Security, Standardization,
Languages, Theory, Legal Aspects, and Verification.
Keywords
Keywords Electronic Funds Transfer, Phishing Scams, SSL
Certificates.
- INTRODUCTION
Online transactions provide ease of shopping and comparisons of
products and prices. It’s an attractive option for shoppers who
don’t have to travel from place to place looking for the right
product but just by a click one can purchase a range of products
from domestic appliances to complex art designs or movies.
Online transactions make it possible for the users to gather more
information on a range of products and prices before settling on
the right product. The increased ability of the consumer to obtain
adequate information about a product makes the internet the
number one stop shop for most customers globally. All
individuals participating in e-commerce rely heavily on internet
based information technology to complete their transactions. E-
commerce allows business to transact, communicate anywhere
and ay anytime hence it literally allows all the geophysical
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barriers that exist physically to disappear opening up the whole
world of people as potential customers.
The safety of online transaction depends largely on the safety
measures that the online user takes to prevent identity theft
(Obringer, n, d).
An online transaction popularly referred to as a pin-debit
transaction which entails the use of a protected password to
authorize the transfer of funds through an electronic system
known as the electronic funds transfer or EFT. When a vendor
purchases or sells goods via the internet, one has an option to pay
using the credit card which means that the transaction would be
paid via the offline credit card processing network or via the
online electronic funds transfer that requires a personal
identification number authorize the transfer of funds. Online
transactions are involves the exchange of funds which are
facilitated by EFT networks popular ones are pulse, interlink or
the star. Each bank has to register its own EFT network among the
ones operating in the market and which commonly charge an
interchange fee of 1% per every transaction and it’s charged to
vendor or merchant. In the year 2010 the interchange fees
amounted to over $20.5 billon.
To cushion the online users against financial losses some
insurance companies have included in their policies identity theft
insurance. However some online transactions are relatively unsafe
depending on the nature and medium used to transact them
(Eurostat, 2013)
- Transactions from a public network
These transactions are probably the most unsafe ones. To a
common and ordinary internet user the transactions are seamless
and largely invisible as the online customers is led to believe but
to fraudsters and hackers every time a customer uses a public
network all the information is there and several tricks re used to
filter information to payment gateways. Free Wi-FI exposes
network data transfers to some sniffers who may be hanging on
the belief that someone may transact valuable information using
the free internet services. However, modern desktop browsers
have sophisticated systems that can detect fake replacement of
security certificates by middlemen who intercept data from one
computer to other websites visited hence pay close attention on all
computer alerts especially when transacting sensitive businesses
over the internet.
When connected to a private network that is relatively safe like in
the office or home then the safety of your online transactions are
relatively safe only ensure that an active security solution is
always on whenever you are transacting online that also monitors
the web browser. The constant warnings from your web browser
should not be ignored as they may create loopholes for fraudsters. - Transactions from a Tablet or Smartphone
If you prefer to transact using a tablet or smart phone then avoid
using the available mobile browser. Mobile browsers are not
sophisticated as the desktop browsers especially on security
perspective. It’s safer to install and use banking applications that
have been supplied by your respective bank. These applications
have standard encryptions that are much safer on mobile
applications. Make use of some mobile browser platforms that
have improved security suites and which offer free trusted
security solution but consider installing even a free security
solution instead of using none at all. When connected to some free
public network remember that your transactions are vulnerable to
some one-ni-the middle especially if you are using your phone or
tablet it’s better to switch off the free Wi-Fi and instead use the
4G connection from your mobile provider your transactions would
be much safer (Adrian, 2012).
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ragged (Aldrich, 2011).
- The Use of Passwords
All online transaction are also referred to as a pin-debit
transaction which utilizes the use of a protected password to
authorize the transfer of funds through an electronic system
known as the electronic funds transfer or EFT. No matter how
safe a password is or hard to crack avoid using the same password
for email accounts as well as for other websites that are in
operation. Having the same password for e-mail account, PayPal
or Amazon is a huge mistake. Consider all the places that you
transact your businesses and assess their online security
arrangement and make the right choices. - Transactions from a public Computer
Some public computers have been specifically programmed to
record most of the activities from the user including the keeping a
record of the entire password used. The fraudsters keep track of
their victim’s financial transactions and only strike at the right
time (Laudon & Guercio, 2014) - Payment gateways
For online vendors to process their online payments, payment
gateways must be established or set-up or he company’s e-
commerce website that would enable the clients to pay via debit
or credit card. The choice of a payment gate determines the safety
of the online transaction for both the vendors and the clients. The
gateway records the submitted vendors or customers billing
information from the vendors or customer’s computer via a secure
server to the vendors or customers merchant account in a
respective processing bank. The payment gateway is seamless and
largely invisible to most online customers but to fraudsters all the
information is there for the taking.
For safe online transactions, the payment gateway selected by
vendors should maintain all their business transactions in
advanced datacenters that utilize the best and latest security
methods. The payment gateways should be fully compliant with
most credit card providers control systems and their security
initiatives. These security initiatives include cardholder
information security program, site data protection or the discover
information security or compliance. The best payment gateways
should be labeled as PCI level one. - Government Regulations
The government of the United States of America has made some
efforts to ensure that online transactions are relatively safe.
Through the Federal Trade Commission or the FTC, the US
government regulates the electronic commerce activities. These
activities include commercial e-mails, consumer privacy and
online advertising networks. The FTC Act in the US regulates all
forms of internet advertising that includes online advertising
which have to be truthful, non deceptive and not misleading. The
CAN-SPAM Act if the year 2003 regulates the standards of direct
e-mail marketing. The FTC Act expressively prohibits deceptive
and unfair business practices hence all corporate private policies
that relate to –commerce are subjected to the FTC enforcement.
The other specialized Acts that deal with specific specialized
fields like the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy and Consumer
Protection Act of the year 2008 that was amended to include
controlled substances and online pharmacies. The UNCITRAL
model international law on all electronic commerce was adopted
in 1996 to address different contradicting laws globally relating to
e-commerce and which was mandated to harmonize and provide
uniformity e-commerce laws globally. The International
Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) that
was established in 1991 to tackle consumer problems across
international borders while ICPEN initiative was also established
in 2001 to report specifically all online complaints globally.
- Global Online Trends
The United Kingdom had the highest e-commerce market as
compared by the amounts spent per capita (Robinson,
2010). China’s e-commerce increased by over 384 million online
internet users in 2010 generating a total of $36.6 billion in 2009
(Olsen, 2010). The level of trust among the vendors played a key
role in the expansion among the vendors as well as the customers.
The transactions between China and other foreign countries also
grew by 32% up to $375.8 billion in 2012 accounting for about
9.6% of the total international trade in China (Tong, 2013). Online
companies have also had improvement their market share. Global
online company Alibaba controlled over 80% of the Chinese
market in the year 2013 (Millward, 2014). The total e-commerce
sales in the year 2012 amounted to over $1 trillion (Millward,
2014). Mobile devices are increasingly replacing personal
computers in online transactions both in large as well as small
businesses globally. It’s estimated that in 2014, transactions from
mobile devices accounted for slightly over 25% of all the global
transactions. The rapid expansion of the online business has been
attributed to the advanced system quality, service and users
satisfaction. Online transactions have a very high degree of client
customization and enhanced core competence that has made the
internet services highly competitive. - Deterring Fraud
The payment gateway selected should be able to support
minimum fraud detection plus the implementation of the required
authentication procedures necessary to prevent identity theft.
Credit card theft can only be perpetuated by someone who
possesses the card number and not the physical card itself. The
payment gateway must have these two required authentication
measures; - The AVS Code (Address Verification System) that
authenticates the purchases made by the credit card and
the billing address. When transacting the customers are
frequently required to provide a billing address that
should match the one on the credit card. The major
shortcoming is that most customers have numerous
cards and matching their accuracy of information like
updated addresses or mistyped addresses makes the
authentication vulnerable to future fraudsters.
- CVV (Card verification Value) also referred to as Card
Security Code is a standard authentication system that is
based on a 4 or 3 digit number that appears on the back
of Visa, master or Discover cards or the front part of the
American Express card. The number referred to as CSC
is the one used by merchants to secure transactions and
the last 4 digits are to confirm that the customers really
have the card physically.
To ensure adequate security, choose a secure payment
gateway that has a provider who ensures that all the security
facets of all the financial transaction are addressed and
secured possibly through a 128-bit digital certificate that also
has physical together with information security. The payment
gateway provider should also have a firewall and other
intrusion detection systems among the operating system and
its application layers (Power, 2013). - General Safety of Online Transactions
Online transactions are massive and billions of dollars exchange
hands every day. Online shopping has introduced a convenient
way for shoppers while online prices for products and services are
relatively low compared with the physical world. Most people
regularly shop and bank online. Good measures are already in
place to safeguard most online transactions as its success depends
largely on the trust people place on their security. However, the
internet is susceptible to modern threats and other perils
associated with the digital systems. The general safety of all
online transactions also depends on individual measures that the
users take to safeguard their own transactions. Picking a secure
password goes a long way in ensuring that most of your
transactions are safe. The use of multi-case passwords makes it
difficult for hackers to generate identical passwords. Banks also
make use of the two factor authentication system where through
the mobile phone short messaging service is generated and sent to
the account holder anytime funds are either deposited or
withdrawn from the card holder’s account (Iyogi, 2015). - Secure Online Transactions
There are few basic procedures that may assist the internet user in
confirming the security of financial transactions. Before
transacting any sensitive information on the internet ensure that
the web site is secure by confirming the https address has the
browsers security symbol that indicates that the site is secure. The
http and the https are totally different. The first one is not
encrypted hence its unsecure while the second is encrypted and
secure. If someone tries to intercept information from the second
address then the information would not be helpful at all. The other
symbol is the security lock that appears beside the address and
resembles a small padlock but it’s a sign of security symbol.
All sites that are secure have SSL certificates. The SSL certificate
ensures that all information passing through the site is encrypted
and it also acts like a driver’s license. All the addresses from SSL
sites have the https security symbol word for Table and Figure are
spelled out. Figure’s captions should be centered beneath the
image or picture, and Table captions should be centered above the
table body (Zezoni, 2012). - Phishing Scams
All secure sites generally protect their clients from cybercriminals
but the fraudsters can contact you directly by utilizing the
phishing scams. Phishing scams are imitated notices from
financial institutions, your Credit Card Company or even bank.
These cybercriminals generate and send counterfeit emails that
appear like official emails with reputable websites that pretend to
be trustworthy but the whole concept is to trick unsuspecting
clients to provide their credit card numbers and other account
details. To be safe always call your bank before sending any email
with your personal financial details (Millward, 2014).
- Conclusion
The safety of most of the transactions that are carried out on line
depends on the personal security measures that have been taken
by the user. Cybercriminals thrive on impersonating their victims
by stealing their identity through the hacking or generating
passwords from public computers that a user may have used and
left his password inadvertently. Carelessness and ignorance can
lead to huge losses and the recovery process may take too long
that is if it can be effected as most online users are spread all over
the world. The documents that are carelessly disposed mostly
have enough information a criminal needs to steal ones identity
and empty all the savings in your bank accounts. The safety of all
online transactions also depends on individual measures that
safeguard personal transactions. Using a secure password goes a
long way in ensuring that most of your transactions are safe. The
use of multi-case passwords makes it hard for hackers to generate
identical passwords. Banks also make use of the two factor
authentication system where through the mobile phone short
messaging service is generated and sent to the account holder
anytime funds are either deposited or withdrawn from the card
holder’s account (Laudon & Laudon, 2011). Before replying to
any email especially the ones that require personal information
such as credit card details and other personal account details
always call your bank directly to verify the information to avoid
any phishing scam. Before transacting any sensitive information
on the internet ensure that the web site is secure by confirming the
https address has the browsers security symbol that indicates that
the site is secure and also confirm the SSL certificate is available
to ensure that all the information sent from your email to your
bankers are all encrypted and all the sites that you transact with
have the https security symbol. Online transactions make it
possible for the users to gather more information on a range of
products and prices before settling on the right product (Geena,
2010). The increased ability of the consumer to obtain adequate
information about a product makes the internet the number one
stop shop for most customers globally. All individuals
participating in e-commerce rely heavily on internet based
information technology to complete their transactions. The
internet has provided a revolution in all aspects of shopping,
banking and education (Girdhar, 2013). E-commerce allows
business to transact, communicate anywhere and ay anytime
hence it literally allows all the geophysical barriers that exist
physically to disappear opening up the whole world of people as
potential customers. The internet has provided a revolution in all
aspects of shopping, banking and education. All the citizens of the
earth have an obligation to ensure that all the personal transactions
are conducted prudently and safely to avoid any unnecessary
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