E-Business Security

All business owners should be aware of the risks associated with conducting business on the internet. Ventures like this can pose serious security risks if they are not gone about in the correct manner. A responsible business owner needs to take the necessary precautions when they decide that they want to conduct an e-business. Taking the time to protect your business from hackers will maximize the potential for success.

          “The term hacker was originally used to refer to a self-taught computer expert who is highly skilled with technology, programming, and hardware” (Jenkins, 2000). Hackers target small businesses because they lack the resources that large corporations possess to provide security. A malicious code can destroy all of a company’s code generators and programs. They have caused companies to lose millions of dollars as well as industry position. To avoid malicious codes debilitating your online company, anti-virus and anti-spyware programs should be used and updated regularly and have the most recent patches. A firewall is also a good tool to utilize when trying to protect your online business from these types of threats.

          Data breaches are a common problem seen by online companies that fail to secure their wireless internet networks properly. It can lead to your customer’s financial information falling into the hands of someone who intends to misuse the information. If you intend on using a wireless network for you business you have to ensure that proper security steps are taken. The default password should be changed to something lengthy and preferably containing both large and small letters as well as numbers and characters. You should also make sure that you encrypt your wireless router with Wi-Fi protected access or WPA.  If you aren’t using a wireless router, you should still secure communications that go on over a network. This should be done with the use of internet protocol security or IPSec.

          Another important internet security issue that stems from network use is an always-on connection. Most internet businesses rely on a high bandwidth connection like DSL or a cable modem. An always-on network connection leaves you vulnerable to attacks 24/7. Static IP addresses are also maintained when using an always-on connection. The presents a problem because “once a potential hacker has found the computer, he or she will be able to return to it as long as it is using the same IP address, placing it at greater risk of malicious intrusion” (Jenkins, 2000).

          E-businesses constantly exchange data. It is important to be aware of who you are exchanging data with. Connecting to systems that are owned as well as controlled by others can pose serious security issues. Because of this, it is important that the security mechanisms chosen are “standards based, flexible, and interoperable, to ensure that they work with others’ systems. They must support browsers, and work in multi-tier architectures with one or more middle tiers such as web servers and application servers” (White, 2002, p. 4).

          It is also important to encrypt the information that you keep on your personal computer. You must be prepared for the possibility that your computer could fall into the wrong hands. If it did, you would want to ensure that whoever has the computer won’t be able to view any of the sensitive information being kept on it. To protect your business from the possibility of a computer being stolen, use encryption programs that make information unreadable without an encryption key or password. “An additional strategy is to utilize Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and/or S-HTTP, which work great to secure e-business transactions and other communications between browsers and Web sites” (B., 2010).

When it comes to email, security should be a number one priority. All emails should use file encryption so that communications remain between the customer and the business. Employees should also be made aware of spear phishing scams. They could receive emails that appear to come from a legitimate place like an IT department and be asked to relay sensitive passwords via email. Employees should always be made “aware of what a spear phishing attack is and to be on the lookout for anything in their in-box that looks suspicious (Teixeira, 2007).

I have no doubt that an acceptable level of security can be reached when conducting business over the internet; however, it is a business owner’s responsibility to take the proper steps to ensure the highest security level possible.  Security of an e-business is a multifaceted challenge requiring appropriate policies and practices. When you have successfully deployed an internet business, you will have developed a well established risk management procedure to deter disintermediation of data access.  Providing security for your internet business shouldn’t be hard. There are numerous program providers in the network security field to help you. Failing to take it into account at all would be a fatal error on a business owner’s part.

References

B., D. (2010, May 28). Exploring the Security Concerns for an Online e-Business. Retrieved from http://www.brighthub.com/computing/enterprise-security/articles/72582.aspx.

Teixeira, R. (2007, June 4). Top Five Small Business Internet Security Threats. Retrieved from http://smallbiztrends.com/2007/06/top-five-small-business-internet-security-threats.html.

White, O. (2002, January). Managing E-Business Security Challenges. Retrieved from http://www.cgisecurity.com/database/oracle/pdf/9iR2hisec.PDF.

Ebay's Business Model

Ebay Inc. is the provider of an online marketplace where goods and services are sold auction style. They are in the services sector of the catalog & mail order houses industry. Their competitors consist of companies such as Amazon.com and Liberty Media Corporation (Yahoo, 2011). Their online platforms include Ebay.com, StubHub, and Shopping.com (Yahoo, 2011). They operate in over 27 countries and just recently entered into the European Marketplace (CNBC, 6/29/2005).

Their e business model aims to provide customers with an easy inexpensive way to save as well as make money, depending on whether you use Ebay to buy or sell. Ebay gets charges a fixed fee based on the value of the item sold to the seller and receives the money when the sale has been made. Essentially, they are getting paid for their platform.

With regular maintenance and upkeep to the sight, they don’t have to worry about inventories or overhead expenses like the retail change experiences. They have also done an excellent job with their branding and are a well known name in most every household. They have a good marketing position because they are the best of bread when it comes to selling things online. The fact that they were one of the first to implement the idea of creating a platform where people can sell to other people has made them a very innovative and breakthrough company. Their long term success will be decided on their ability to keep their site running effectively and without any issues from spammers or people utilize the website for marketing.

The economy would be one of the larger market influences on this company. A bad economy could benefit Ebay if it meant that people were turning there to supplement their income by selling some of their things or if people were trying to save money on an item and looking for a deal on the site. A bad economy could negatively affect Ebay if it meant that people were not spending as much money and weren’t making as many purchases on their site because they didn’t feel they had the expendable income. 

CNBC, Inc. (May, 29 2005). Ten things You didn’t know about Ebay. Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8391726/ns/business-cnbc_tv/t/ten-things-you-didnt-know-about-ebay/#.TkWDcmFOrzY.

Yahoo. (2011).  Industry Center - Catalog & Mail Order Houses. Retrieved from http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/739.html.

Disaffirming a Contract Signed By a Minor

The law states that minors do not have contractual capacity. Minors are defined by being under the age of majority. The age of majority varies from state to state and is usually 18,19, or 21. This gives adults who have signed contracts before the age of minority the ability to disaffirm or refuse to be bound by a contract. However, emancipated minors may be bound by their contracts. The ratification of a contract after the age of majority binds the person to that contract and will no longer allow them to disaffirm the contract. Court approved, insurance, work-related, reality and banking contracts cannot be disaffirmed.

If a person gives there real age when signing a contract, I believe that the companies should be liable for anything disaffirmations because they were aware of what could happen. I think that the fact that disaffirmation is still allowed even if the person lied about their age is a grey area ethically. A company should be responsible for getting proper proof of age when they are setting up a contract with someone. Therefore, they have not covered well enough for themselves and should still be held liable.

Minors have a reasonable length of time after achieving their majority to disaffirm contracts.  I think that within 5 years would be reasonable for a contract that is known about. If someone decided to seek money for a contract at a later time that the person was unaware of or didn’t remember having, I believe that they should be able to disaffirm it when they find out about it, no matter how many years later that is.

Ethically, I don’t believe that it’s right if a child lies about their age and then is still able to disaffirm a contract without consequences. However, we call them minors for a reason. These are young people who haven’t really gotten a chance to learn right from wrong and what types of contracts they should enter and the obligations that come with them. I think that the government protecting our minors from being contractually obligated to a contract agreed to before the age of majority is very ethical. We cannot allow our youth to be taken advantage of. 

Employee Drug Testing

Studies have shown that substance abusers are 33% less productive overall (Patrick Dixon). Patrick Dixon found research showing that “when the State of Ohio introduced random drug testing they found absenteeism dropped 91%, there were 88% less problems with supervisors and 97% decrease in on-the-job injuries”. Employers have a responsibility to ensure that their employees do not pose a safety risk to anyone while on the job. Unless employees’ belong to a union, they have little to no legal protection against being drug tested.

State and local legislature have limited the powers of employers by passing statutes regarding drug testing.  Because of this, many employers have put contractual agreements into place that effect what rights the employee has. However, even if an employer is able to obtain information that an employee is doing drugs, they are still limited as to how they are allowed to respond to their findings. It is believed that drug testing interferes with the EAW principle of guaranteed political right, more specifically, the right to privacy.

I believe that, because drug use can be such a liability to employers, drug testing should be allowed under any circumstances. The continued passage of acts that are limiting actions of employers shows that the majority of American’s would not agree with my statement.

Moral philosophies can be consistent with both arguments. An employee privacy is a right that should be guarded however not doing drugs may potentially affect your work performance is the ethical thing to do.  I think that this issue is present because we do not want people doing illegal drugs, however, when figuring out whether or not someone is doing illegal drugs divulges information about other legal drugs they are taking, privacy is violated. I don’t think that whether or not you are on depression medication or ADHD medication etcetera is any of an employer’s business.   

Dixon, Patrick. (Jan. 26, 2011). Drug Testing in the Workplace. Retrieved from http://www.globalchange.com/drugtest.htm on February 20, 2011.

What constitutes an offer and an acceptance in contract law?

An offer in contract law is expressing the desire to enter into a contract. It must be made with the intentions that the offer will become binding as soon as the offer is accepted. An offer can be revoked anytime before it is accepted as long as the revocation is communicated to the offeree. A contract cannot be revoked if it was in an option contract. The offer should contain all circumstances for the proposal being made. The offeree should have a present intent to contract so it can be made clear that the offeree is serious. Once the offer is made, the offeree cannot change any of the terms of the contract. It must be exactly the same. The offeror can set a deadline as to how long the offeree has to accept the offer. The offeror can also demand a certain method of acceptance to be used.

An acceptance is a response to the offeree that indicated that they approve of the terms of the offer. Once an offer is accepted, a legally binding contract is created. An acceptance must be intentionally made. The offeree must communicate to the offeror that they agree with the terms of the proposed contract. The communication of the acceptance of an offer can be bilateral or unilateral.

Offers can be accepted instantaneously and non-instantaneously. This was the issue in the case of Ellefson v. Megadeth, Inc. Non-instantaneous forms of acceptance are methods utilizing mail, email, and fax. Non-instantaneous forms of acceptance can cause timing issues. The Ellefson case resulted in The Mailbox Rule. The Mailbox Rule states acceptances that are properly address and dispatched take effect as soon as they are sent regardless of whether or not it comes up lost. The Ellefson case has caused more offeror’s to say exactly how long the offeree has to accept by setting a date. However, if an acceptance is sent after a rejection had already been sent, the acceptance does not become binding until received by the offeror. The final exception to The Mailbox Rule is if the contract states that the use of The Mailbox Rule is not allowed.

It was ruled that Ellefson only sent a counter-offer because he could no furnish evidence that he had faxed the acceptance before the 5:00 PM deadline.

What is The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) & The Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act (UCCITA)?

                Before the UCC and the UCCITA, the government enacted the commerce clause. The commerce clause, which is Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3, of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to regulate commerce between states. The Constitution put limits of state powers but also recognizes a states inherent right to the regulation of domestic commerce. “The exercise by Congress of its regulatory power has increased steadily with the growth and expansion of industry and means of transportation” (Farlex).

The Uniform Commercial Code is a set of laws that are used to govern the commercial transactions that go on in the United States. This code applies to the sale of goods as well are contracts, leases, and loans. The National Conference of Commissioners initially created the UCC. Although it is not a federal law, each of the 50 state’s legislature has either adopted the code verbatim or enacted a modified version.  (U.S. Small Business Administration) The Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act is more specifically focused on computer information transactions than the UCC. The major difference between the UCC and the UCITA is that Article 2 of the UCC only deals with the sale of goods, and disregards the types of contracts specifically referred to in the UCITA. The UCC only applies to transactions where the goods are “identifiable and moveable”(LAWINFO). The UCC also states that it only applies to sales and not licenses.

Legally, when you sell a product, the owner is exchanging all rights to the item for money. When someone is licensing something, they are granting someone permission to certain rights for a price. When a person is licensing something, they are still the owner of it. It is the difference between the complete transfer of rights and the limited transfer of rights. The significant problem with licensing is that it could replace sales all together, “without provision for the public policy goals embodied in copyright law”(National Academy Press).

The NCCUSL decided to propose UCITA as a separate uniform act because when they tried to add a new article to the UCC, the American Law Institute called for revisions in it. The NCCUSL did not think that revisions were necessary so they withdrew from the amendment process and recast it on their own without the ALI. UCITA is still today opposed by many including the Federal Trade Commission and the Attorneys General of over 20 states (Huggins). If the NCCUSL wouldn’t have proposed it be a separate act, they probably would not have been able to get the amendment added to the UCC because of all of the controversy.

Farlex. (n.d.). Commerce Clause. Retrieved on March 4, 2011 from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Commerce+Clause.

Huggins, James S. (n.d.). UCITA: Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act. Retrieved on March 4, 2011 from http://www.jamesshuggins.com/h/tek1/ucita.htm.

LAWINFO. (n.d.). What is Article 2 of The U.C.C.?. Retrieved on March 4, 2011 from http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/Legal-FAQs/UCC-and-Warranties/Federal/what-is-article-2-of-the-ucc.html.

National Academy Press. (2000). “Licensing” vs. “Buying” Information: Legal and Policy Implications. Retrieved on March 4, 2011 from http://www.cni.org/tfms/2001a.spring/handout/Licensing-DArsenault2001Stf.pdf.