M.Sc. (Computer Science) / An increasing number of corporate and government institutions are utilising electronic commerce to provide or improve their services. These new online services are becoming increasingly complex, offering diverse functionality and managing high volumes of personal and confidential data. The protection and confidentiality of such data is imperative but the security mechanisms and the policies governing its security are rarely sufficient. Nonetheless electronic commerce service providers market their services as being “secure” and by doing so they are developing a false sense of security within computer users. Average computer users are aware of security threats like hackers, viruses, Trojans and spyware, but their limited computer knowledge doesn’t allow them to understand, identify or respond to such security threats. A lack of computer knowledge, little experience and gullibility render the average computer user incapable of managing computer security. This is even more true when the average computer user is put up against the wit and cunning of a hacker. Electronic commerce has changed, the threats have changed, the users have changed and electronic commerce security solutions remain the same. Hackers are no longer hobbyists: they hack for financial gain and not fame, they work together and they exploit any security weakness to get what they want. More and more often the average computer user falls victim to hacker attacks, not only because of the above mentioned human factors but also because of weak security mechanisms that govern users’ access to critical online services.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:6827 |
| Date | 25 May 2010 |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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