Group 3: Internet Security, Selling and Chatting On The Web
Group 3: Internet Security, Selling and Chatting On The Web
Group 3: Internet Security, Selling and Chatting On The Web
1. Malicious software
• An internet user can be tricked or forced into downloading software that is of malicious intent onto a computer. Such software comes in
many forms, such as viruses, Trojan horses, spyware, and worms.
• Malware, short for malicious software, is any software used to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain access to
private computer systems. Malware is defined by its malicious intent, acting against the requirements of the computer user, and does not
include software that causes unintentional harm due to some deficiency. The term bad ware is sometimes used, and applied to both true
(malicious) malware and unintentionally harmful software.
• A botnet is a network of zombie computers that have been taken over by a robot or bot that performs large-scale malicious acts for the
creator of the botnet.
• Computer viruses are programs that can replicate their structures or effects by infecting other files or structures on a computer. The
common use of a virus is to take over a computer to steal data.
• Computer worms are programs that can replicate themselves throughout a computer network, performing malicious tasks throughout.
• Ransomware is a type of malware which restricts access to the computer system that it infects, and demands a ransom paid to the
creator(s) of the malware in order for the restriction to be removed.
INTERNET SECURITY THREATS C’TD
• Scareware is scam software of usually limited or no benefit, containing malicious payloads, that is
sold to consumers via certain unethical marketing practices. The selling approach uses social
engineering to cause shock, anxiety, or the perception of a threat, generally directed at an
unsuspecting user.
• Spyware refers to programs that surreptitiously monitor activity on a computer system and report that
information to others without the user's consent.
• One particular kind of spyware is key logging malware. Keystroke logging, often referred to
as keylogging or keyboard capturing, is the action of recording (logging) the keys struck on
a keyboard.
• A Trojan horse, commonly known as a Trojan, is a general term for malicious software that pretends
to be harmless, so that a user will be convinced to download it onto the computer.
INTERNET SECURITY THREATS C’TD
2. Denial-of-service attacks
• A denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) or distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS attack) is an attempt to make a computer
resource unavailable to its intended users. Another way of understanding DDoS is seeing it as attacks in cloud computing
environment that are growing due to the essential characteristics of cloud computing. Although the means to carry out, motives
for, and targets of a DoS attack may vary, it generally consists of the concerted efforts to prevent an Internet site or service from
functioning efficiently or at all, temporarily or indefinitely. According to businesses who participated in an international business
security survey, 25% of respondents experienced a DoS attack in 2007 and 16.8% experienced one in 2010. DoS attacks often
use bots (or a botnet) to carry out the attack.
3. Phishing
• Phishing is an attack which targets online users for extraction of their sensitive information such as username, password and
credit card information. Phishing occurs when the attacker pretends to be a trustworthy entity, either via email or web page.
Victims are directed to fake web pages, which are dressed to look legitimate, via spoof emails, instant messenger/social media
or other avenues. Often tactics such as email spoofing are used to make emails appear to be from legitimate senders, or long
complex subdomains hide the real website host.
INTERNET SECURITY THREATS C’TD
4. Application vulnerabilities
• Applications used to access Internet resources may contain security vulnerabilities such
as memory safety bugs or flawed authentication checks. The most severe of these bugs
can give network attackers full control over the computer. Most security applications and
suites are incapable of adequate defense against these kinds of attacks.
• A very and widespread web-browser application vulnerability is the so-called Cross-
Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) vulnerability - for maximum security and privacy,
make sure to adopt adequate countermeasures against it (such as the example patches
provided for Web Kit-based browsers).
INTERNET SECURITY TIPS
• When thinking about online sales and e-commerce, you probably get the picture of a
website with a shopping cart and a bunch of products. That definitely works but there is
so much more to be done on an e-commerce website.
• Your sales process can go beyond the boundaries of normal websites by
integrating different channels as well as a mobile-friendly design. You can use tools
like live/online chat that are normally associated with support to create proactive sales
campaigns that reach out to customers who browse your products.
SELLING ON THE WEB / ONLINE SELLING
• Online selling is the act or process of selling goods, products or services via an internet or
mobile app, auction site, online classified advertisement, online shop, social networking,
social media or web shop.
• One advantage is that, Selling directly online increases your reach to esteemed buyers.
With an online store, your profits are no longer limited by the number of customers that
can physically visit your location. You can sell across towns, states, and even across
borders, removing all geographical limitations.
FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN SELLING ON THE
WEB
• Over half of consumers are likely to do business with brands offering chat-based support. And this technology is only expected to
become even more popular. Brands can leverage chat apps to either provide support to existing customers or for messaging-
based sales.
WHY SALE WITH A CHAT?
1. Add a Personal Touch for a Service-driven Sales Process
• Online shopping is faster, more convenient and — often — more cost-effective than visiting brick-and-mortar stores.
• But there’s one key element missing from websites and apps: dedicated, personal service from a sales professional. As research is
a key aspect of both online and offline shopping, having someone ready to answer questions at any time can make a big impact on
the customer’s experience.
• Messaging-based sales offers businesses the chance to assist shoppers just ahead of, or during, the purchase process. A few
persuasive words from a rep could sway a buyer’s decision to purchase or walk away.
• Simply clicking or tapping the “live chat” button on a site or app connects customers to an agent in seconds, and a fast response
makes this as convenient as approaching a member of staff in a brick-and-mortar store.
COMBINING SELLING & CHATTING ON THE WEB