E-Government in Malaysia: Its Implementation So Far and Citizen's Adoption Strategies

E-government - Malaysia

Various countries, including Malaysia, are implementing electronic government, generally known as ‘e-government’. The status of e-government implementation in Malaysia is widely discussed as to the potential of e-government implementation towards the public and businesses. The implementation of e-government started since the initiation of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) by the Malaysian government.

The e-government initiative launched the country into the Information Age. It will improve the government operates internally as well as how it delivers services to the people of Malaysia. It seeks to improve the convenience, accessibility, and quality of interactions with citizens and businesses. Simultaneously, it will improve information flow and processes within the government, improve the speed and quality of policy development, and improve coordination and enforcement. This enabled the government to be more responsive to the needs of its citizens.

E-government is one of the seven flagship applications introduced in MSC. Under the e-government flagship, seven main projects were identified to be the core of the e-government applications.

The e-government projects are:
1. Project Monitoring System (PMS)
2. Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS)
3. Generic Office Environment (GOE)
4. Electronic Procurement (EP)
5. Electronic Services (E-Services)
6. Electronic Labor Exchange (ELX)
7. E-Syariah

The recent survey about e-government adoption in Malaysia, which was done by market information group TNS, indicated that the e-government use is growing but at a slow pace. As shown in the study, about 15% of Malaysians have used the internet to access online government services in year 2003 compared to 12% in year 2002. In the survey, Malaysia’s ranking is 25th out of 32 countries in terms of e-government usage growth. The Malaysians are also concerned about the security of doing transactions over the Internet and this resulted in low usage of e-government services. As far as the age group is concerned, the younger Malaysians who are under 34 are the primary users of e-government services. Also noted in the survey, households with high incomes and higher levels of education actively use the e-government services.

The implementation of e-government services will bring benefits to the public, businesses and the government itself. As for the public, saving time and money are the primary reasons to use the e-government implementation, the governments should market their offers, improve citizen’s awareness of the benefits and increase take-up of online services.

However, implementing a successful e-government project is not without any barriers during the process. Hence, adopting good strategies are crucial in order to overcome these barriers.

Four main barriers could affect Malaysia’s e-government implementation.
1. Legislative and Regulatory Barriers
2. Budgetary Framework
3. Lag Behind Technological Change
4. Digital Divide Impedes the Benefits of E-Government

Citizen’s adoption strategies

E-Government adoption is affected by website design elements that provide perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, by user characteristics such as sense of perceived risk, feeling of perceived control and prior Internet experience, and also by citizen satisfaction with the quality of its services.

1. Customer satisfaction
E-Government adoption requires that citizens show higher levels of satisfaction with the online service provided by the government. A higher level of customer satisfaction will increase the rate of e-Government adoption.

2. Service Quality
Online service quality for e-Government could be measured in terms of quality of content provided on the website, the speed of the response to the citizens concerns with problem solving approach, and the availability of names. Other important measurement factors are telephone and fax numbers of personnel with whom citizens might need to get in touch, and the integration of an offline channel with online channel so that citizens could interact with government departments through other means if necessary. Higher quality of service will lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction and thus can increase the use of e-government services.

3. Website Design
Personalization of websites, customization of product offerings, and self-care are the three key features that could be used not only to build relationship with the visitors, but also to enhance their experience. These features give visitors a sense of control and participation and could potentially enhance their adoption

4. User Characteristic
User characteristics such as perceived risk, perceived control, and internet experience can have a direct impact on internet adoption. Experience influences a citizen’s trust of e-Government. Users with prior experience, especially if satisfied, would be more likely to return to use e-Government services. Perceived risk leads to security and privacy issues that could discourage the use of online services. It is important to ensure that citizens can transact online securely and their personal information will be kept confidential to increase the level of trust and the e-government adoption rate.

The government should be able to propose an effective strategy to encourage citizen’s adoption of e-government by focusing on these 4 areas.

Prevent from the e-auction fraud

Protecting against e-auction fraud

1. Verification
It is used to confirming the identity and evaluating the condition of an item. With verification, neutral third parties will evaluate and identify an item through a variety of means.

2 .Grading Service
E-auction site like e-bay will provide the grading service. Usually the grading service is done by the third party who is specialized in this field. By using this method, it can protect the buyers from the e-auction fraud. Some sellers will sell the fake antiques or maybe the bad quality antiques but the buyers will never know. So here comes the grading service. They will use the grading service on antiques, collectible stuff, and painting.

3. Feedback Forum
Buyers and sellers from the e-auction site will get benefit from this feedback forum. They can share their buying or selling experience in this forum. For example, when a buyer gets cheated by a seller, he can post his own experience in the feedback forum so that other buyers can beware of that seller. From the feedback forum, buyers can get to know who the trustful sellers are. It can reduce the possibility for e-auction fraud to happen.



4. Escrow Service
An escrow service is a licensed and regulated company that collects, holds, and sends a buyer's money to a seller according to instructions agreed on by both the buyer and seller. Typically, once the buyer receives and approves the item from the seller within an agreed time frame, the escrow service then sends the payment to the seller.



5. Nonpayment Punishment
E-bay has the nonpayment punishment. This is to protect the sellers against the buyers who didn’t pay for the products. For buyer who did not pay for the first time, they will send a warning mail to the certain buyer. Second warning will be given out if the buyer did not pay for the second time. Once the buyer did it again, his or her account will be suspended for 30 days. Lastly, termination of the account will be taken.

Review of Blooming Florist

Blooming Florist is an online store which sell flowers, fruit baskets, cookies, wines and so on. In the homepage of Blooming Florist, there are many products listed there.

This will be convenient to their customers. Besides that, people who first time visit their website can easily know what Blooming Florist is selling. On the other hand, customers who prefer touch n feel the products before purchase can visit to Blooming Florist’s physical store which is located in LG floor of Mid Valley.

On top of the page, we can see the Worldwide Delivery. Satisfaction Guaranteed. Customers can order things from Blooming Florist and send to friends or family who is in overseas. Furthermore, they focus on customer satisfaction. So, Blooming Florist will delivery products to customers on time. Blooming Florist is same like other e-commerce site. We can found that they did provide the

Shopping cart – An order-processing technology that allows customer to accumulate items they wish to buy while they continue to shop. For the Blooming Florist their shopping cart is allocated at the right top corner.

Search engine – A computer program that can access a database of Internet resources, search for specific information or keywords, and report the results. Customers can search the products by using the search engine. At the left top corner, we can found the products search of Blooming Florist.

Online catalog – Blooming Florist is using the static catalog which is a simple list written in HTML that appears on a Web page or series of Web pages.

E-payment system – Blooming Florist provide the e-payment service. Their customers can make the payment online for example using the credit cards.

Related Link

http://www.blooming.com.my/blooming/

Corporate Blogging : A new marketing communication tool for companies

What is corporate blog?

A corporate blog is published and used by an organization to reach its organizational goals. The advantage of blogs is that posts and comments are easy to reach and follow due to centralized hosting and generally structured conversation threads.

There are few types of corporate blog which is internal blogs, external blogs and CEO Blogs.

Internal blog

Internal blog is a weblog which generally accessed through the corporation’s Intranet and any of the employees can view. Anyone can post their own comment in that blog. The informal nature of blogs may encourage:

• employee participation
• free discussion of issues
• collective intelligence
• direct communication between various layers of an organization
• a sense of community

External blog

An external blog is a publicly available weblog where company employees, teams, or spokespersons share their views. It is often used to announce new products and services (or the end of old products), to explain and clarify policies, or to react on public criticism on certain issues. It also allows a window to the company culture and is often treated more informally than traditional press releases, though a corporate blog often tries to accomplish similar goals as press releases do. In some corporate blogs, all posts go through a review before they're posted. Some corporate blogs, but not all, allow comments to be made to the posts.

External corporate blogs, by their very nature, are biased, though they can also offer a more honest and direct view than traditional communication channels. Nevertheless, they remain public relations tools.

Certain corporate blogs have a very high number of subscribers. The official Google Blog is currently in the Technorati top 50 listing among all blogs worldwide.

Marketers might expect to have product evangelists or influencers among the audience of an external blog. Once they find them, they may treat them like VIPs, asking them for feedback on exclusive previews, product testing, marketing plans, customer services audits, etc.

The business blog can provide additional value by adding a level of credibility that is often unobtainable from a standard corporate site. The informality and increased timeliness of information posted to blogs assists with increasing transparency and accessibility in the corporate image. Business blogs can interact with a target market on a more personal level while building link credibility that can ultimately be tied back to the corporate site.

CEO Blog

Blogging among CEOs.

What are the Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Reach more employees with a single message
• Be more accessible
• Create a searchable archive of thoughts and ideas
• Employees' questions and feedback will be permanently recorded on a blog

Cons:

• Need to master a new style of communicating
• Creates an expectation that you will post regularly
• Puts the CEO “out there” and writing ability and though process will be scrutinized—at least initially
• The writing can be difficult unless the CEO loves to write (in which case this becomes a positive)

Related Link
http://www.corporateblogging.info/

Credit Card Debts: Causes and Prevention

Causes of Credit Card Debts

1. Poor Planning and Overspending
Unexpected occurrences bring unexpected expenses. Despite careful budgeting, expenses that were never planned on can arise and cause people are incapable of paying for monthly bills. Some common examples of such unexpected expenses are property damage caused by catastrophic weather events, appliances that just stop working, and pricey car repairs. These and other similar things can greatly affect your ability to work at eradicating debt. Other than that, there is one common overspending phenomenon that happened frequently especially on people who likes to shop during sales and price cutting events by shopping malls. Shopaholics are among the people who are unable to withstand the attraction of price cut. They always shop without considering their needs and wants on the product and this behavior is known as impulse buying. Thus, impulse buying may lead to overspending and then credit card debts.

2. Lack of Savings
Research shows that majority of credit card debts caused by not saving enough. With sufficient savings, people will unlikely having financial problem. While not all financial woes can be completely avoided, they can indeed be made easier to deal with by being able to rely on savings to help in the case of an emergency. Sadly, many people do not see the importance of adding monthly savings to a budget. Doing so, however, is essential to successful management of debt.

3. Unexpected events
Unexpected events may cause credit card debts. For instance, jobs get lost. Due to outsourcing and downsizing on mass levels by large companies, many people have found themselves suddenly jobless. Such an unexpected change financially can cause serious money problems, including the inability to pay off debt.

4. Health Problems
Credit card debts can be related to health problems. A host of debilitating illnesses can leave their victims without the ability to work, as do many accidents. Because of having medical expenses but not having an income, putting money towards the elimination of debt on a monthly basis becomes very difficult to arrange.

Credit Card Debts Prevention

1. Budgeting
Create a budget and stick to it. A clear budget that includes all of your monthly bills, food, entertainment and miscellaneous items will prevent you from spending thoughtlessly and buying on impulse.

2. Review financial records
Maintain clear financial records and a regular payment schedule. Disorganization can cause you to overlook bills and overestimate how much you have to spend. Dedicate a specific time every month (just after payday is best) when you can sit down with your finances, pay your bills and determine how much you have to spend for the month ahead.

3. Limit the use of credit card
Only use credit when you can pay it off within a few months. Using credit cards with no plan to pay the debt is reckless, irresponsible and can get you into big trouble. The longer it takes you to pay off the debt, the more interest that debt will incur--and the more you'll end up paying.

4. Limit the amount of credit card
Shred or tear up credit card applications that come to you in the mail. Just because you get the application doesn't mean you need or want the card. Destroying the application will prevent you from using it and protect you from potential identity thieves.

5. Make saving as a habit
Save for a rainy day. Direct a portion of your paycheck directly into your savings account so you never even see that money. Aim to save enough money to be able to pay your bills for 6 months in case you lose your job or have an accident.

6. Maintain insurance coverage
Health and home insurance are absolute musts in order to avoid debts. Unexpected medical bills, flood damage and fire damage can lead to ruin if you aren't properly covered.

Mobile Money Payment System in Malaysia

Neowave Mobile Money (MM Wallet)

Mobile Money is a PIN-based Mobile Payment Solution to address the limitations and bottlenecks created by cash, cheques and credit cards. It unlocks the power of the mobile phone to make payments, allowing registered users to pay for goods and services at anytime, anywhere using only a mobile phone coupled with a 6-digit security PIN (Personal Identification Number) via SMS (Short Messaging Service). This gives the freedom to shoppers to buy products online and pay the merchant using his/her mobile phone without being physically present at the store.

Mobile Money will encourage more consumers to shop online. This will definitely be a great boon to the e-commerce industry in Malaysia. It will surely encourage more merchants to adopt online selling as an extra sales channel which complement perfectly with their offline sales channel to help them sell more of their goods and services. Realizing these needs of merchants in Malaysia, Neowave is the 1'st shopping cart software provider who has integrated Mobile Money as a payment method in their webShaper e-commerce software. This feature allows merchants to accept payment via Mobile Money and process the payment in real time within clicks.

In order to pay using Mobile Money, a shopper must have a savings, current or credit card account with participating banks. It functions like a Credit Card if a shopper applies for a "Pay by Mobile Phone" credit card account (eg Hong Leong Mobile Credit Card). The shopper will be billed by the bank accordinly by month's end. In addition, it functions as a Debit Card if it is tied to shopper's savings or current account. The amount will be deducated instantly from the account upon successful transaction.

How Mobile Money Works?

1. Customer That Purchase Online from an E-commerce Website

2. Pay by Mobile Phone Number
(Applies to customer purchase from merchant's brick-and-mortar store or Remote Payment)

1. Customers choose to pay via Mobile Money for the goods and services from participating merchants.

Customer gives merchant his/her mobile number via phone, fax, email etc.

2. Merchant can bill the customer via IVR, Mobile Money website or SMS. When merchant requests for payment with customer's mobile number, Mobile Money sends an SMS with a Bill Reference Number to customer requesting customer to to reply with their 6-Digit Security PIN to approve the payment.

3. Customer authorizes payment by replying the SMS with the Bill Reference Number and customer's 6-digit SECURITY PIN.

Mobile Money authenticates customer's SECURITY PIN and requests for bank approval on transaction.

(In this illustration, 001 is the Bill Reference Number while 123456 is the security PIN. In simpler terms, 001 means it is the 1'st SMS request for payment, 002 means the 2'nd, 003 means the 3'rd and the number increases. )

4. upon receipt of bank's confirmation to debit customer's mobile credit account or mobile Debit account, Mobile Money will send a payment notification with details to merchant as well as customer.

5. Merchant can deliver the goods / services.

Related Link
http://www.neowave.com.my/mobilemoney_overview.asp

The Application of Prepaid Cash Card for Consumers

Touch ‘n Go
Touch ‘n Go is a prepaid smartcard that uses Mifare contactless technology. Mifare is the international de facto standard for contactless smartcard. Information contain in this card can be read and written via magnetic induction using specified radio frequency and smartcard software.

Touch ‘n Go card is an electronic purse that can be used at all highways in Malaysia, major public transports in Klang Valley, selected parking sites and theme park. Touch ‘n Go uses contactless smartcard technology. The card looks similar to a credit card. User can continue using the card as long as it is pre-loaded with electronic cash.

User can reload the card at toll plazas, train stations, Automated Teller Machines, Cash Deposit Machines, Petrol kiosks and at authorised third party outlets. Reload denomination is ranging from RM20 to RM500. Touch ‘n Go enhances the speed of paying for low value but high frequency transactions. Apart from the speed, it is also very convenient because user no longer need to prepare for small change or wait in queue at the cash lane to complete the transaction.

EZ-LINK
Same as Touch-n-Go, EZ-Link is prepaid card in Singapore.

The EZ-Link card is a contactless smartcard based on Sony's FeliCa smartcard technology, used for payments in Singapore especially for transportation in Singapore . Established in 2001, it was promoted as a means for faster travel due to speedier boarding times on buses.

The card is commonly used in Singapore as a smartcard for paying transportation fees in the city-state's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), Light Rapid Transit (LRT) and public bus services. The card also serves as a supplementary identification and concession card for students in nationally recognised educational institutes, full-time national service personnel serving in the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Civil Defence Force and Singapore Police Force or senior citizens who are over sixty years old.

The system has since been expanded, with EZ-Link cards being used for payments in Singapore branches of McDonald's, food centres, supermarkets and libraries, and even soft drink purchases from vending machines. Some schools in Singapore have also started to adopt the EZ-Link card as a way to mark the attendance of students and to pay for food served within the school campus.

On December 3, 2005, EZ-Link Pte Ltd announced that it was working with NETS to create a new hybrid card which will have the functions of both the EZ-Link card and the CashCard. This card would make it possible for one card to be used for payment on three popular modes of land transport in Singapore — ERP, bus and MRT. Work on this card was expected to be completed in 2007, but as of 2008, the card has not yet been released. On 17 October 2007, Starhub and EZ-Link Pte Ltd declared the start of a 6-month trial on phones with an embedded EZ-Link card.

Related Link
http://www.touchngo.com.my/
http://www.ezlink.com.sg/

Electronic Currency

Today, cash is known in various forms as a means of exchange and of storing value. Mussels, gold and silver as well as standardized products such as cigarettes are only a few examples. Although the coins and banknotes that are now abundant in their basic form have existed for thousands of years, the first bank note of the Swiss Federal State, surprisingly did not appear until 1907. In 1918, the Federal Reserve Banks first began to move currency, i.e., manipulated book-entries to clear payment balances among themselves, via a telegraph.

However, the widespread use of electronic currency did not begin until the automated clearinghouse was set up by the US Federal Reserve in 1972 to provide the US Treasury and commercial banks with an electronic alternative to check processing. Similar systems also emerged in Europe around the same time. Thus, electronic currency has been widely used throughout the world on an institutional level for more than two decades.

Today, nearly all of the deposit currencies in the world's banking systems are handled electronically through a series of interbank computer networks. Although banks have been able to move currency electronically for decades, only recently has the average consumer had the capability to use electronic transfers in any meaningful way. The increasing power and decreasing cost of computers, coupled with advancements in communication technology have made global interaction available at vastly reduced costs. Together, these factors make the digital transfer of funds a reality for millions of individuals around the world. As a result, we are now witnessing the development of a digital economy.

Now, less than a hundred years after the first bank note was issued, technological progress has undoubtedly created a new direction in the means of payment. The Internet and E-commerce have become an increasingly commercial area, where daily payments are rendered for goods, information and services. As a result, electronic payments are becoming the central part to online business between customer and seller. Traditional applications of rendering payment include credit cards, private label credit/debit cards and charge cards.

However, these traditional forms of rendering payment online have posed problems to both the consumer and the seller. Not all merchants are equipped to accept credit card transactions. Some merchants even prefer not to accept credit card transactions because credit card companies charge merchants a two to six percent service fee for each transaction. Since smaller sales are a significant part of business transacted online, many online merchants do not accept credit card transactions due to their small profit gains.

Additionally, consumers have become concerned with "hackers" intercepting and obtaining their credit card number stored on the Internet, as well as the possibility of becoming a victim of fraud on the Internet since the customer and the merchant never physically meet. Furthermore, as the data collection industry continues to grow, credit card companies are invading consumer's privacy by collecting their spending habits and reselling the data to third parties. Consumers are gradually realizing that providing their numbers to online merchants is no more hazardous than reciting it to a clerk over a telephone line.

As a result of recent proliferation of computers, modems and telecommunications links, modern methods of rendering payment, i.e., electronic currency, as known as digital cash, virtual cash, electronic cash, digicash, electronic money, digital money, Internet currency, cybercash or cyberbucks, are receiving a great deal of attention from both consumers and merchants.

Electronic currency is essentially a system that allows a person to pay for goods or services by transmitting a number from one computer to another. These transactions are carried out electronically, transferring funds from one party to another, by either a debit or credit.These funds are instantly cleared and secured by using strong encryption, thus eliminating the payment risk to the consumer. It is only a matter of time before electronic currency will replace the present monetary systems. Thus, electronic currency is the digital representation of money, or more accurately, the digital representation of currency.

The Threat of Online Security: How Safe is Our Data?

Online Threat

1. Spy ware
Spy ware is a program that runs in the background on a users computer without the user even knowing it is there. These types of threats generally collect data from the infected machine and through that machines internet connection, will transmit that collected data to a third party. Such threats can be installed from visited websites and in many cases is bundled with software and is installed without the end users knowledge during the software's install process.

2. Phishing Threats
This threat is an attempt to lure a user to a website that looks like legit but is not, then have the user voluntarily provide personal information. You may receive an email or link which appears to be from your banking institution, Pay pal, e Bay or some other company you may have personal data on file with and the link you are to click may look real however, when you click on the link you are directed to a thief's website which may look identical to the real thing. Needless to say, if you fill out the form and provide them with the personal data they ask for, surely you fall victim to a scam.

3. ISP Logging
Sadly, this is becoming a growing threat as yet more privacy and rights are lost. Many ISPs are now being forced to log users activities including web traffic, email, Usenet, chat and other protocols and maintain those logs for specific periods of time. Overcoming such logging is crucial to maintaining privacy and our members are given the tools and the knowledge needed to do just that.

4. Websites gathering personal data
There are many scripts available on the web today to incorporate within the code of websites to compile all kinds of information on the people who visit those sites. In most cases, without the visitor ever knowing the website is compiling that data! PC, browser and personal information can be obtained from websites running unscrupulous web scripts.

5. Hard Drive Data
Have you ever had an image or document or some other file on your PC that you did not want anyone else to know about? Many users think that when they delete a file from a computer that it is gone. That is simply not true. Such files can easily be retrieved to their original state with even the most basic of tools. Even some "eraser/scrubber" type programs leave enough trace to identify such files.

Application of 3rd party certification programme in Malaysia

Nowadays, more and more people are getting involved in e-commerce. Many people start to do transaction online. But still some of people deliberately limit the transactions they do online because they don’t fully trust the e-commerce process. These people simply fear for the security of personal and financial information transmitted over the Web. In order to reduce that problem, the application of third party certification programme can help organization to establish or improve customer trust by securing their Web site for business.

MSC Trustgate

MSC Trustgate.com Sdn Bhd was established in 1999 as a licensed Certification Authority (CA) operating out of the Multimedia Super Corridor in Multimedia Super Corridor in Malaysia under the Digital Signature Act 1997 (DSA). MSC Trustgate was provide security solutions and trusted services to help companies build a secure network and application infrastructure for their electronic transactions and communications over the network.

Their vision is to enable organizations to conduct their business securely over the Internet, as much as what they have been enjoying in the physical world. Their commitment in delivering high quality services has brought us recognitions with the enterprises, government, and many leading e-commerce sites, and service providers’ digital certification services, including digital certificates, cryptographic products, and software development both locally and internationally.

Their vision is to enable organizations to conduct their business securely over the Internet, as much as what they have been enjoying in the physical world. Their commitment in delivering high quality services has brought us recognitions with the enterprises, government, and many leading e-commerce sites, and service providers' digital certification services, including digital certificates, cryptographic products, and software development both locally and internationally.

Their vision is to enable organizations to conduct their business securely over the Internet, as much as what they have been enjoying in the physical world. Their commitment in delivering high quality services has brought us recognitions with the enterprises, government, and many leading e-commerce sites, and service providers' digital certification services, including digital certificates, cryptographic products, and software development both locally and internationally.

Products and services that offer by Trustgate:

1. SSL Certificate for Internet, Intranet and Server Security

• An SSL Certificate is an electronic file that uniquely identifies individuals and Web sitesand enables encrypted communications. SSL Certificates serve as a kind of digitalpassport or credential. Typically, the “signer” of a SSL Certificate is a “CertificateAuthority”

2. Managed PKI for Enterprise Trust Services

• Managed Public Key Infrastructure (MPKI) service is a fully integrated enterprise platform designed to secure intranet, extranet, and Internet applications by combining maximum flexibility, performance, and scalability with high availability and security.

3. Secure Transaction with Digital ID

• To ensure the confidential information remains private in transit, need to use Digital ID to sign and encrypt the transactions. Digital ID from MSC Trustgate.com is governed by the Digital Signature Act 1997. Without a legitimate Digital ID in your electronic transaction, your contract is not admissible in court in the case of dispute

4. MyKad PKI (MyKey)

• Malaysian government has put in place a smart National Identity Card (“MyKad”) for every citizen. MyKad with PKI capability allows its holder to conduct online transaction with government agencies and private sectors.
• MyKey, is the MyKad PKI solution that works with your physically MyKad, allowing you to authenticate yourself online and to digitally sign documents or transactions and is accepted by the Malaysian government.
• MSC Trust gate are the prime PKI developer and integrator for Mikado and offer various MyKad PKI modules for developer who wishes to develop MyKad applications.
• MyKey modules

- MyKey Application Programming Interface (API)
- Signing module
- Verification module
- MyKad Client Kit

5. SSL VPN for Remote Access Services

• MSC Trustgate offers simple and cost effective remote access solutions for mobile workers, branch offices, partners and others you want to give access to your network resources, without affecting the security of your enterprise.

6. Managed Security Services

• Information security of an organization does not end by plugging in some anti-virus and spam filtering software, firewall, or IDS to your network.MSC Trustgate.com will study your business requirements, then plan and recommend relevant product & solutions to your organization. Those comprehensive security solutions range from the best of breed products to cost-effective and high value services
• Trustgate services include:

• Vulnerability scanning
• Security assessment
• Security architecture design
• Intrusion prevention
• Software integrity / application control
• Security audit

How to Safeguard Our Personal and Financial Data?

1. Install and update antivirus of the computer

• Make sure that antivirus software is installed and keep it updated daily as new viruses may occur anytime.

• Updated version of antivirus able to combat a wide range of threats, including worms, phishing attacks, rootkits, trojan horses and other malware and thus safeguard our personal and financial data.

2. Set up a firewall

• A firewall is a device or set of devices configured to permit, deny, encrypt, or proxy all computer traffic between different security domains based upon a set of rules and other criteria.

• Without a firewall, computer is vulnerable to hackers.

3. Be cautious when using public computer.

• Public computer refers to non-personal computer which are used by different people such as computer in cyber-café, library and etc.

• Remember to close window browser after use as people can track the information if the browser is not close.

• Clear your passwords, cache, browsing history, and temporary files before logging off.

4. Avoid financial transactions through public computer

• Online transaction such as e-banking should be avoided as it required financial data and those data can be easily tracked in an unsecured computer.

5. Do not open any unknown files

• Never open any files or click on a link which are sent by unknown party.

• Those files may contain viruses while links can lead unsuspecting users to dummy sites where they are asked to input financial information.

Phishing

Phishing

Phishing is an attempt by a third party to solicit confidential information from an individual, group, or organization by mimicking, or spoofing, a specific, usually well-known brand, usually for financial gain. Phishers attempt to trick users into disclosing personal data, such as credit card numbers, online banking credentials, and other sensitive information, which they may then use to commit fraudulent acts.

A phishing attempt can be defined as an instance of a phishing message being sent to a single user. Extending the fishing analogy, a phishing attempt can be considered a single cast of the lure (the phishing message) to try to catch a target. A single phishing message can be used in numerous distinct phishing attempts, usually targeting different end users.

A phishing Web site is a site that is designed to mimic the legitimate Web site of the organization whose brand is being spoofed. In many cases, it is set up by the attacker to capture a victim’s authentication information or other personal identification information, which can then be used in identity theft or other fraudulent activity.

How to Avoid Phishing Scams

The number and sophistication of phishing scams sent out to consumers is continuing to increase dramatically. While online banking and e-commerce is very safe, as a general rule you should be careful about giving out your personal financial information over the Internet. The Anti-Phishing Working Group has compiled a list of recommendations below that you can use to avoid becoming a victim of these scams.

• Be suspicious of any email with urgent requests for personal financial information
• unless the email is digitally signed, you can't be sure it wasn't forged or 'spoofed'
• phishers typically include upsetting or exciting (but false) statements in their emails to get people to react immediately
• they typically ask for information such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, social security numbers, date of birth, etc.
• phisher emails are typically NOT personalized, but they can be. Valid messages from your bank or e-commerce company generally are personalized, but always call to check if you are unsure
• Don't use the links in an email, instant message, or chat to get to any web page if you suspect the message might not be authentic or you don't know the sender or user's handle
• instead, call the company on the telephone, or log onto the website directly by typing in the Web adress in your browser
• Avoid filling out forms in email messages that ask for personal financial information
• you should only communicate information such as credit card numbers or account information via a secure website or the telephone
• Always ensure that you're using a secure website when submitting credit card or other sensitive information via your Web browser
• Phishers are now able to 'spoof,' or forge BOTH the "https://" that you normally see when you're on a secure Web server AND a legitimate-looking address. You may even see both in the link of a scam email. Again, make it a habit to enter the address of any banking, shopping, auction, or financial transaction website yourself and not depend on displayed links.
• Phishers may also forge the yellow lock you would normally see near the bottom of your screen on a secure site. The lock has usually been considered as another indicator that you are on a 'safe' site. The lock, when double-clicked, displays the security certificate for the site. If you get any warnings displayed that the address of the site you have displayed does NOT match the certificate, do not continue.
• Remember not all scam sites will try to show the "https://" and/or the security lock. Get in the habit of looking at the address line, too. Were you directed to PayPal? Does the address line display something different like "http://www.gotyouscammed.com/paypal/login.htm?" Be aware of where you are going.
• Consider installing a Web browser tool bar to help protect you from known fraudulent websites. These toolbars match where you are going with lists of known phisher Web sites and will alert you.
• The newer version of Internet Explorer version 7 includes this tool bar as does FireFox version 2
• EarthLink ScamBlocker is part of a browser toolbar that is free to all Internet users - download at http://www.earthlink.net/earthlinktoolbar
• Regularly log into your online accounts
• don't leave it for as long as a month before you check each account
• Regularly check your bank, credit and debit card satements to ensure that all transactions are legitimate
• if anything is suspicious or you don't recognize the transaction, contact your bank and all card issuers
• Ensure that your browser is up to date and security patches applied
• Always report "phishing" or “spoofed” e-mails to the following groups:
• forward the email to reportphishing@antiphishing.org
• forward the email to the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov
• forward the email to the "abuse" email address at the company that is being spoofed (e.g. "spoof@ebay.com")
• when forwarding spoofed messages, always include the entire original email with its original header information intact
• notify The Internet Crime Complaint Center of the FBI by filing a complaint on their website: www.ic3.gov/

E-Commerce Success – Dell.com

Dell.com

Dell is one of the world’s top providers of computer products and services such as servers, storage, workstations, notebook and notebooks computers, to businesses and consumers. Michael Dell founded the company back in 1984 when he was just 19 years old. He had $1,000 and the unique idea to sell computer systems directly to customers. The company has successfully managed the new ways of doing business that e-commerce has created. E-commerce refers to business transactions and communication that are carried out through computers – over networks and the internet. This includes buying and selling goods and services, funds transfers and other commercial communications. It creates a new way of buying and selling – one that uses technology to make the transaction.

How Does Dell Use E-Commerce To Improve Supply Chain?

When internet technology arrived, Dell was quick to set up the e-commerce processes that would enable it to also sell directly online to customers. Selling online allows the whole process to be automated and more efficient. Since 1996 when Dell opened its website www.dell.com for e-commerce the company has had huge sales success. By 1997 the company recorded $1 million in online sales. By 2000 the company’s internet sales had reached $50 million a day!

Consumers would purchase notebook computer online rather than visiting the retail shop. The full product range is online with detailed information to help consumers to make decision. Consumers can simply follows the easy, automatic instructions that come up on screen. These allow us to customize the computer we wants with the features we needs. We can increase, for example, hard disk space and see the difference that increase makes to the overall price. Then consumers are given a variety of options on how to pay, either directly online or, via a customer service operator. The order is then passed automatically through to the production department at Dell's factory where it will be manufactured to the particular specification, tested and shipped out to consumer. Once manufactured, delivery typically takes three or four days. All of the systems relating to the sale are done through e-commerce: order placement, order tracking, payment processing, inspection, testing and delivery.

Dell’s approach to e-commerce simulates the benefits of face-to-face contact between the buyer and the seller. This ensures that staff can be focused on delivering the quality product and providing excellent customer service and support.

How Dell’s E-Commerce Focus Improve Customer Service?

Dell has created many features and services online to help the customer see the whole purchasing process clearly. The premise of Dell’s business is selling directly to customers – customers tell Dell exactly what they want and Dell provides them with the goods directly. As well as being able to customize the product, customers can track the progress of the order as it is produced and delivered. This can help the customer see the stages of the process and likely delivery times. Customers can create and view their service records online. This includes product support, shipment and delivery dates. Each purchase comes with a service tag code, which can track the model bought and its service requirements. This allows Dell customer service representatives to quickly and efficiently handle requests. This level of 24 hour customer service and fast response time helps Dell build strong customer relations, which of course is crucial for the company in its understanding of consumer needs. It is also a very cost-effective way of providing sales and support – cost savings which can be passed on in the form of better prices to customers.

Success depends greatly on the efficient management of the website. The customer must have a convenient experience when shopping online and have faith that Dell will successfully complete the order and safeguard financial details. Customers need to be comfortable using paperless transactions without face-to-face contact. It is crucial that customers consider purchasing online as an alternative to the traditional method of going into a retailer and buying a product off-the-shelf.

Dell is focused on enhancing its image and relationships, not only with customers, but also with employees and the wider community. To do this, the website is also used as a communication tool for news, press releases and general information to help customers, employees, the media and prospective employees find out more about the company.

Related Link

http://www.dell.com/

How E-Commerce can reduce cycle time, improve employees’ empowerment and facilitate customer support

Reduce cycle time
E-commerce has brought many benefits in our daily life especially for companies which include reduce cycle time, improve empowerment of employees, and facilitate customer support and others. The cycle time may reduce if e-commerce takes place in business. Cycle time is the amount of time it takes to complete a process, which is any process, for example are purchase order process and transferring of purchase order to invoice. With this reduction of cycle time, the customer can receive products ordered in a faster time. E-commerce can reduce this cycle time by eliminating the time taken to process between supplier, intermediaries and customers, which means when a customer placing an order, he or she is directly deal with the supplier website, hence it eliminate the processing time between the intermediaries and supplier. E-commerce provides a 24 hours platform for transaction instead of staying at shop for a long time. The working time of administration can be lowered by performing business transactions through automatic system. Those transactions can be recorded automatically by well-designed e-commerce system. Besides, the product’s promotion time will also be reduced by posting advertisement on website.

Improve employees’ empowerment
E-commerce can also improve in employees’ skills. In some B2B websites, login IDs can be provided to authorized people for instance the machineries service engineers from around the world. The B2B sites, can allow the service engineers to share the common found problems and at the same time compile the knowledge base. Ultimately by having the service engineers patronizing the sites shall improve the on-job knowledge. Some B2B sites allows forum for sharing knowledge. With the forum shared among the employees, it allows the employee to participate thus improve their job satisfactions and performances. As mentioned previously job efficiency can be improved by reducing the cycle time. This shall improve the overall employees’ performance as well.

Facilitate customer support
The Internet has become the primary and often times the only place for people to research. Their demand for immediate satisfaction is only matched by their need for accurate information. By publishing an online catalog no longer satisfies the needs of an online customer and could very well spell disaster for any e-business looking to capitalize on their Web presence. E-businesses are better equipped to provide the level of interaction that many Web customers demand. It is enable users to maintain their own customized and editable shopping lists for routine purchases. These shopping lists were encouraging repeat purchases as customers do not have to find all over again the same items that they bought last time. Apart from that, the shopping list was enable each user to create multiple shopping lists, create a shopping list at any point in the shopping process, link to the product description page of each product in the shopping list and edit each shopping list to place a current order or updating which items they want and the quantity desired of each item. For registered customers it can provide an option that allows saving and viewing their order history. For example, customer may want information about items they have bought in the past to help them select complementary items, or to remind them what size they need. Access to this information can increase customers’ comfort and thereby encourage further purchases

Related Link
http://www.remarkable.co.nz/ebusiness/ebusiness_cost_benefit.htm
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/080324/0378211.html

E-Commerce failure – Webvan.com

For those unfamiliar with Webvan, it is an on-line grocery store. You went to their site, ordered your groceries, picked a delivery date/time and your groceries were delivered. They tried to get economies of scale by using a large warehouse to store, pick and ship the orders.

People tried them once, because they were novel, new, and their neighbors mentioned them at parties. That didn't translate into regular, large orders that Webvan needed to be a viable business.

There were a number of things that contributed to their demise:

1. Food
Food is a large part of most budgets, even for the folks Webvan targeted. Discounting is very much part of the grocery business, and Webvan didn't play that game. High margin items, such as soda, were cheaper at stores than on Webvan. The major chains have made shoppers very price sensitive, and Webvan was viewed at the upper end of the price range (whether they were or not is irrelevant), which meant people would use them in a pinch, but still went to the store for their major purchases.

2. Order Size
Grocery shopping is really impulse buying - stores want to get you in with a few specials, to get you to walk through their store. They know you'll see other items you need, adding to the total sale per customer. Even if you go in with a list, you probably would find a few things you needed that you forgot. Webvan, because of its web-based model, wasn't really good at capturing the impulse buy that drives the total sale. Much of the buying is touch and feel - people like to see the meat, fruit, and vegetables and pick what they like. Yes, Webvan would refund the money, but that doesn't do you much good when your trying to make a salad and the vegetables aren't up to your standards.

3. Advantage over stores
While it was great that Webvan delivered, they completely missed the "I need it now" market. That may have been smart, because cost of delivering a carton of eggs and some milk would be kill any profit on the order. (Webvan did add a delivery charge for small orders near the end) However, since I still had to run to the store to get one or two items, it was just as easy to make a list of other things I needed as well. This meant there was no compelling reason to use Webvan, since it really didn't cut down significantly on trips to the store.

4. Convenience
Scheduling delivery was hard - next day service was rarely available, forcing people to plan 3-4 days in advance. It's just as easy to sneak in a trip to the store. In short, Webvan offered no clear advantages to going to the store that made buyers switch to them. Retail stores could even adopt parts of Webvan's model, making their position even weaker. In Atlanta, several stores even offered fax/online/phone ordering - they would take and pack the order for your pickup - one even offered drive through pickup.

5. Webvan failed to learn from history. Home delivery of groceries is nothing new
There are services that will stock your pantry on a regular schedule. Sometimes there is a reason why a business model hasn't been a roaring success - their aren't enough customers. Scaling up a business model that hasn't been successful in the past and wrapping the web around it doesn't change the fundamentals.

The history and evolution of e-commerce

What is e-commerce?

E-commerce or electronic commerce, a subset of ebusiness, is the purchasing, selling, and exchanging of goods and services over computer networks (such as the Internet) through which transactions or terms of sale are performed electronically. Contrary to popular belief, e-commerce is not just on the Web. In fact, e-commerce was alive and well in business to business transactions before the Web back in the 70s via EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) through VANs (Value-Added Networks). E-commerce can be broken into four main categories: B2B, B2C, C2B, and C2C.

The history of e-commerce

Sometimes it seems like e-commerce has always been a part of our lives. Most of us make business transactions online on such a regular basis that it is difficult to imagine a time when you were not able to do so. Despite this, the history of e-commerce is actually a relatively short history. It began less than fifty years ago and its humble beginnings look nothing like the kind of electronic business transactions that we see today. Even up until the 1990’s, online business wasn’t a reality for the average person. So how did we get to the point where e-commerce has become practically a way of life?

The development of e-commerce was one of those things that happened slowly and then suddenly. At its very basic level, the term refers simply to any commerce that takes place electronically. This includes ATM and credit card transactions as well as the ability to do billing and invoicing through electronic methods. The technology allowing this kind of commerce took hold in the late 1970’s and grew steadily throughout the 1980’s. It was during this time that people started to use credit cards on a regular basis and that set the foundation for electronic commerce to get a toehold in society.

However, it wasn’t until the development of the Internet that e-commerce started looking like the type of business that we know today. For most people talking about it now, the term refers to transactions, which take place completely through the web. When you search for an item on sites such as eBay or Amazon and then pay with a credit card or online checking account, you’re conducting the kind of e-commerce that most people think of when the term comes up. That wasn’t made possible until the average person began to use the Internet in the 1990’s.

Two things happened in the mid-1990’s to make this kind of e-commerce a possibility. First, computer security was strengthened enough to make consumers and businesses feel comfortable with conducting these types of transactions online. Second, the average person began to gain familiarity with the web and started using it for every day activities such as online shopping. Combined with the fact that web design was improving and the speed of the Internet was increasing, e-commerce had a platform for development. In 1995, Amazon.com was launched and we really started seeing the type of e-commerce that we’re used to today.

Despite the fact that the web looked a lot then like it does now, there were several factors that inhibited the growth of the online business at this time. For one thing, many people still didn’t have high speed Internet in their homes so online shopping tended to be limited to what could be done in the workplace. Additionally, many small businesses invested too much money in creating a web presence and they weren’t able to sustain that development due to lack of funds. At the turn of the twenty first century, the dot-com bust happened and many of these businesses went broke.

Of course, we survived the dot-com bust and the Internet came back in a bigger and better way. Today, the average person not only has a home computer but also has the high speed Internet connection that lets him or her move easily between web pages. This makes it easy to do comparison-shopping online. More importantly, the availability of high speed Internet has increased the ability of people to work from home. These people often set up e-commerce sites, which allow them to sell products without needing a whole business behind them. These two factors combined have made it so that e-commerce has become a part of our daily lives. Now if we could only find a way to spend less than we make, we’d all be in good shape.

The evolution of e-commerce

1984
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) was standardized through ASC X12. This guaranteed that companies would be able to complete transactions with one another reliability.

1990
Tim Berners-Lee wrote the first web browser, World Wide Web (WWW), using a NeXT computer.

1992
Compuserve offers online retail products to its customers. This gives people the first chance to buy things off their computer.

1994
Netscape arrived and providing users a simple browser to surf the Internet and a safe online transaction technology called Secure Sockets Layer.

1995
Two biggest names in e-commerce are launched which is Amozon.com and eBay.com

1998
The Digital Subscriber line (DSL) provides faster, always-on Internet service to subscriber across California. This prompts people to spent more time, and money, online.

1999
Retail spending over the Internet reaches $20billion, according to Business.com

2000
The dot-com bust.

2003
Amazon had its first year with a full year of profit.

Related Link
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/40249.html
http://www.sunilhazari.com/education/documents/ecomeval.htm
http://www.ecommerce-land.com/history_ecommerce.html

NiGeLL's Biography

* Male, 26, Single
* Interested In: Friends, Activity Partners
* Location: Selangor, Malaysia
* Hometown: Kajang, Selangor
* Zodiac Sign: Cancer

(Lazy to type... Just drag from frienster.com, don't sue me ya.. I have no money!)



Yo! Guys and girls... My name is NiGeLL HoH, just an ordinary UTAR student pursuing Bachelor of Business Administration (HONS) Entrepreneurship.

Well, I have no specific hobbies and interest actually... I like Swimming, Snorkeling, Scuba Diving, Singing, Futsal, Badminton, Martial Arts, Basketball, Table Tennis and lots more... as long as it is fun...

Erm... If you all really want to know what I like the most, I would have to say.. "Flirting" - is that a hobby?

Websites that I have the most visits are:-

1. http://www.google.com -
Internet search, web-based e-mail, online mapping, office productivity, social networking, and video sharing.

2. http://www.yahoo.com
Web portal, search engine, Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, news, and posting

3. http://www.wikipedia.org
Free, multilingual, open content encyclopedia project operated by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation.

4. http://www.friendster.com
Popular social networking website offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos for teenagers and adults internationally

5. http://www.youtube.com
Video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips.


How useful is Internet to me?
Well, I often use the Internet to:-

1. Search for information
-Internet is the largest resources for information search.
(Believe me, you'll find it useful if you are doing assignments and if you are lucky, you can get the exact model answer of your assignment online!)

2. Downloading
-Videos, Dramas, Songs, even Softwares are available online for download
(Just the issues of legal/illegal, WHO CARES? To do or not to do...)
-Legal websites - eg. download.com and rapidshare.com (Shareware, you might need to pay)
-Illegal websites - eg. baidu.com and plus28.com (Free of charge, pornographies are the most downloads)

3. Communication
-Keep in touch with my family, friends, and etc.
-Through realtime chatting via MSN messenger, Skype, etc
(Most of the time, I use it for flirting... eg. "hi gal, do u miss me? :-) kiss kiss, hug hug...")

4. Watching videos
-Watching streaming videos, uploading videos, etc
(Said this with cross-fingers: In Malaysia, Streamyx provide excellence services and internet connections, to prove it, we have no lagging problem while watching video via Youtube!!!)

5. Playing online games
-Games played over some form of computer network
-Research shown that 76% of UTAR male students are playing online games, the rest 15% bookworms and 9% sissy boys. (source: unknown)


(D.O.T.A. rocks the world!)
*p.s.: DOTA - Defence Of The Ancients - a game created in "Warcraft" by Blizzard Inc.

Posted By,
Nefarious NiGeLL,
Your Devil Next Door
URL: http://profiles.friendster.com/nigellthedevil

YN's profile

My name is Hoe Yong Nien, a UTAR student from Subang Jaya, currently pursuing Bachelor of Business Administration (HONS) Entrepreneurship. My hobbies are eat, play, and sleep.

Top 5 websites:
1. www.google.com – information searching
2. www.revmods.com – car modifications & car concept
3. www.sneakerfiles.com – sneakers information, news & release date
4. www.youtube.com – video watching
5. asia.cnet.com – news & reviews about tech products

Top 5 Internet activities:
1. Search for information
2. Downloading
3. Communication
4. Watching videos
5. Playing online games

Yvonne's Biography

Hello to everyone who visit our blog. Let me briefly introduce myself. I'm Yvonne Gan Yi Wern, 21 years old from Negeri Sembilan. I'm a year 3 sem 1 student in Bachelor of Business Administration (HONS) Entrepreneurship.

I like listen to music very much. Music is part of my life. No music no life. Everyday i will listen to music such as english pop songs, chinese songs, some classical music and so on. Besides that, i like shopping and watching movies. Women like shopping pretty much. So, it is the same to me. Surfing net is also one of my hobbies. I will surf the net once i am free.

Websites which i visit the most is www.wretch.cc. The reason i join wretch is because i like blogging. By joining that website, i can share my precious experience and happy moment with my friends. Furthermore, i get to know many Taiwanese from wretch. Most of the users of wretch are from Taiwan.

Friendster and Facebook are also my favorite websites which i always visit to I will log in my account everyday. From that, i get to know lots of friend from different countries. Every night, i used to chat with them by using comments and i really enjoy chatting with them. It is because can share my joyness and sadness with them all the time.

I will also visit to Google. It is a very good search engine. I can search many information which i needed for my assignments. Moreover, i can get many information about fashion by using the Google. This can improve my sense of fashion.

Other than that, i like youtube too. I can watch many drama which are showing in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Latest MV and funny clips can be found in youtube too. I will always visit to youtube when i'm bored.

Those are brief introduction about myself. Hope you all enjoy reading our blog. Thanks...