Introduction
With development in technology, computers have become part and parcel of business today. With the development of computers, there is internet that was developed to meet the goal of making the world a global village. Almost each company whether profit making or nonprofit making, countries embassies, and local government are having a website that gives information (that is meant for public consumption) about the organization. The individuals are not left behind, almost everybody, especially the youth, who are computer literate have an email address. There is the growth of social media that have been used as networking tools among the youth. Companies and other organizations are also subscribing as members to these networks. The invention has various advantages to the business however; there are also disadvantages as a result. One of the area that internet is risking is information privacy (Dhillon, 2007). Information is an asset to a company and thus measures should be taken to ensure that only the company uses it. This paper analyses the effects of internet on information security, its effect on organizations security, and solutions to internet problems.
Effect That the Internet Has Placed On Information Technologies Security
The internet has been adapted in business today for various activities; one of the uses is to send information or communicate with others. The security of this data is threatened since once it has been transmitted via an internet, it can be hacked and used for various uses against the sending company. Information and current data is one of the greatest resources that a company can have. If the information leaks to competitions and on the hands of people who can work against the good of a company, it can lose its competitive power.
One of strong competitive tool is product differentiation; customers are loyal to products that they have had a previous pleasant experience. Companies have kept their production technique as a secret as a way to retain their product differentiation. One such company is Coca-cola. However, with advance technology and internet, product differentiation has narrowed; this limits the dependence of a company to its brand name.
Internet is freely available to everyone who has access to a connected computer. This makes choice of a certain information recipients difficult. Companies are developing websites where they pose some of their strategies which may be used by competitors to outdo the company. For example over the internet a company in its efforts to advertise may disclose to the public some of the factors that make its products unique. Such information was meant for customers but competitors can have access to such information and use it against a company. It may give its structure which can be used for ill reasons.
Data mining is another problem that face business sector, there are chances that a company may decide to get information from its competitors but pose like a potential buyer, and he may even request for information over the internet from the company itself then use it against it (Kantardzic, 2002).
Data stored in computers is at the risk of loss if a computer is invested with a virus, or a worm which happens over internet connections among other ways. Many are the times that viruses make computers crash and loose crucial information.
Solutions to These Problems and Discuss How Those Solutions Achieve Their Goals
To ensure that data is secure a company must establish ways to protect information that is contained in its website. To do this the start point should be in the company itself. The kind of data that it posts over the internet should be vetted. There should be a specific class of people who are mandated to upload information to the internet. This will require restriction to servers and main computer room. Both physical and coded security measures should be taken. Servers should be kept in a lock and key rooms. These computers should be locked by unique codes. The same staff should be mandated with the task of withdrawing any information that may have gotten to their website either through malice or mistake before it has tarnished the name of a company.
Upgrading company’s software is another thing that can assist a company in keeping away people from accessing some crucial information. Technology is changing day by day and thus a company should maintain a strong information and technology team that can keep the company with the pace of computer world.
Virus is developed by people with a certain intention and thus strong anti-virus software should be maintained. Upgrading of this software’s is crucial if a company will maintain a strong system that is not infested by viruses.
Users of internet sites of companies should be given general information and advised to visit the company in person if they require more information. This is another way that can be utilized to safe-guard information.
Hacking can be prevented by ensuring that software’s adopted by a company are complex in their design but user friendly. This will assist a company to keep away hackers. Many are the times that a system is hacked by information and technology guys who have worked with the system and thus know how it operates. To prevent this there should be a responsibility oath enforceable in court taken by information and technology experts leaving and getting into an organization. Secondly, there should not be one center of power; no one should fully understand a system in operation. Checks and balances should be set.
To prevent data loss out of internet interference or as a general trend, each company should have back up data storage. This are kept in a different station other than the place of operation. Incase data as lost, and then they are used as a fallback. Technology has today reached to a level that lost data can be recovered by use of data recovery tools, though they would require a prior registration; a company should invest in such kind of technologies (Peltier, 2002).
Conclusion
Technology has become part and parcel of modern business life. The internet is one of the breakthroughs that have made the world a global village. Data and information that a company hold is an asset to the company and thus should be used by the company and disclosed to those it’s meant to benefit. However, some company’s information has fallen in the hand of competitors and used against the company or it has been lost. To prevent this, it starts with internal checks and balances that a company takes to ensure that only the required information reaches the public.
Reference List
Dhillon, G. (2007). Principles of Information Systems Security: text and cases. NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Kantardzic, M. (2002). Data mining: Concepts, models, methods and algorithms. New York: J. Wiley.
Peltier, R. (2002). Information Security Policies, Procedures, and Standards: guidelines for effective information security management. Boca Raton, FL: Auerbach publications.