How to safeguard personal and financial data?

How do you protect your personal and financial data? Is your personal and financial data remaining confidentiality? Otherwise, it will lead to loss, misuse, unauthorized access or modification towards the information.

Here are the methods that you’re privacy data to be secured:
1)Do not share your personal information to others which is including your Social Security number, passport number, birth certificate number, driver’s license number and credit card numbers.

2)It is important to keep your user name and password confidentially. Password is required to secure for your data. For example, combination of alphabet and numbers can be used as a password. BUT make sure that you can memorize the password.


3)Do not give out information unless you know the party with whom you are dealing. Must be ensure that the information given to the authorized users only. For examples: your customer, supplier and banker.

4) Use Biometric systems

Biometric systems refer to method to recognize human physical and behavioral traits uniquely.
It can be divided to :

• Physiological – shape of the body. For examples, DNA, biometric fingerprint systems, biometric iris recognition.
• Behavioral – voice scan and keystroke monitoring.

5) Firewall

Firewall is a part of a computer system or network is to block unauthorized access n a company’s private network and the internet. Function- set of devices to allow, deny, encrypt, decrypt, or proxy computer traffic between different security domains followed by a set of rules and other criteria.

3rd Party Certification Programme In Malaysia

Nowadays, unsecured website has incurring the worries of internet users when they are required to provide private information or update their profile, even update their bank accounts, and etc. In this condition, Secured Sockets Layer (SSL) is the best solution to build users’ trust through getting SSL Certificate for website.

What is Secured Sockets Layer (SSL)?

• Technology which employs the essential functions of mutual authentication, data encryption, and data integrity for security transactions.
• Also known as an electronic file that enables secure confidential communications and identifies individuals and websites uniquely.
• Issued by a trusted third party called Certification Authority (CA). Authenticity is ensured when certificate is issued once establishes with its organization’s public keys and signs with CA’s private key.

Examples of 3rd party certification programme in Malaysia
1) VeriSign SSL Certificated

• Provides a crucial layer of intelligence and security that protect data and deliver information through internet safely to ensure data integrity and confidentiality.
• All information transmitted over the internet is encrypted using the 128-bit SSL.
  
• Reduce problems of lower shopping cart and other transaction abandonment which will increase visitor-to-sales conversions consequently.
• Besides that, internet users also get benefit from EV SSL Protection as Mozilla Launches Firefox 3. It leads “Site Identity” button attach to the location bar and immediately reassurance that authenticity has been verified by VeriSign. It helps organizations to build trust and confidence among their current or prospect customers.
• Maybank2U.com is the largest online banking which verifies by VeriSign and can be classified as VeriSign Secure Site.

2)MCS Trustgate

• which was established in year 1999 under Digital Signature Act 1997 (DSA).
  
• It is a licensed Certification Authority which operating with the Multimedia Super Corridor to provide digital certification services.
  
• The services included digital certificates, cryptographic products, and software development. It is used to secure the open network communications for both locally and across the ASEAN region.
  
• MPKI service is one of the services provided by Trustgate. It is designed to increase the security of intranet, extranet, as well as internet application. It enables the organizations to create their own multiple digital certification program with efficiency and cost-effective through this flexible managed service.
• Besides, Trustgate also provides digital ID which governed by Digital Signature Act 1997. It is needed to ensure that the information is remained private and will not expose or alter by others.
• Trustgate also included PKI capability. MyKad created by government with PKI capability allows citizen to perform the online transaction between government and private company. MyKey is the ultimate PKI solution for MyKad which allow the holder to authenticate themselves online and digitally sign document or transaction.

In my opinion, scenario of increasing attack of the phishing on the internet is worrying the internet users regarding whether the websites they visit are security safe or not. As a result, the application of 3rd Party Certification Programme assists to enhance the users’ confidence in the safety and security of the internet. Hence, we are clear that this programme is playing a major role in our daily life significantly.

Please click on the picture below to login to Trustgate.com if you would like to get more information about it.

Mobile payment systems in Malaysia : Its potential and consumers' adoption strategies

Mobile payments is a collection of money from consumer via a mobile device such as their mobile phone, Smartphone, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or any other devices. With such application, it brings benefits to the world of e-commerce and it is relatively growing in Malaysia as well.

Some of examples of mobile payments available in Malaysia are mobileExec and Mobile Money. Both are using the concept of making payment transactions just through a mobile device to pay for goods and services anytime without having cash on hand, cheques or even physically present a store. This will be easier and more convenient for users as they go about anywhere to make purchasing.

Companies such as Maxis; HGL Capital Berhad; CELCOM are also coming up with this concept to cater for their customers convenience. Mobile payments services indeed have a great potential and advantage. Consumers are more comfortable with low-value transactions over such non-traditional means. Common applications will include payment for transportation, parking, restaurants, convenience stores, retail outlets, e-tickets to name a few – typically for low-value items. This helps especially when consumers are in need of cash but doesn’t have any in hand, therefore with mobile payments they do not need to even search for an ATM machine to withdraw the needed money for the payment.

The threat of online security

It is important to be aware that there are certain types of online threats that will cause a whole lot of problems such as data loss and reprogramming the computer system. Therefore, online security has become an enormous concern when surfing the net. Nowadays, computer users are facing the threats of cyber crime, phishing, internet and network attacks such as computer viruses, worms and Trojan horses and back doors.

1) Viruses
Virus is a piece of software code that inserts itself into a host, including the operations systems. The virus is activated once its host program be executed and attempts to copy itself into more program. Viruses may simply infect and spread; others do substantial damage such as deleting files or corrupting the hard drive. For example, "I LOVE YOU" virus caused over $100 million in United States damages and over $1 billion in worldwide losses.

2) Worms
Worm is a self-replicating software program, consuming the resources of its host in order to maintain its capable of propagating a complete working version of itself onto another machine. It uses networks to spread itself or spread through instant messages; it does infect a computer or hand held device without human intervention. Macro virus or macro worm is executed when the application object that contains the macro is opened or a particular procedure is executed.

3)Trojan horses
A program that appears to have useful function but contains a hidden function which presents a security risk is known as Trojan horse. Trojan horse is unlike a worm, it requires user cooperation. Once on your machine, Trojans then function as independent programs that operate secretly. Commonly, Trojans steal passwords or perform "denial of service" attacks. Examples of Trojans include Backdoor and Nucker.

Corporate blog- a new communication tool for the companies

Blog became more and more popular recently. Corporate blog is one of the weblog that used publicly by an organization to publish about themselves, products and services. The important is the copyright is belonging to the organization.

Corporate blog consists of 2 main types which are internal and external blog.

1) Internal blog – Blog that can be viewed by the company’s employees by using the company’s Intranet. It is mostly used in the meetings or e-mail discussions from different geographical location. Thus, it is available for all the employees who do not have been invited or took part in those meetings or discussion to provide their expertise. Thus, it can build a strong relationship between the company and employees.

2) External blog – Blog that publicly available to announce the new products and services, notify the company policies, sharing views for certain issues. It is useful than the traditional press releases. All of the posts will reviewed and commented before post publicly. It is including the additional information which is unobtainable from a standard corporate website and thus increased the transparency and accessibility of the company image.

The corporate blog is useful because some of the reasons:

1) Update easily- Blogs will keep the content new and dynamic because it is easier to update whichever internally or externally.
2) Two-way communications channel – Blogs allow readers to post their comments or participate in the discussion. The company also need to provide additional message which different with those information that they get from the company website.
3) Time management – It will just take some time to update compare with pod casting. Hence, it is easier to manage and communicates the company news, culture, information with all the people around the world quickly and easily.

Although corporate blog is easier to create, but there is still some mistake which is done by some of the company.

1) No specific goal – Easy to set up result in the various types of new blogs. Thus, it is difficult for the company to be special and caught the readers’ attention.
2) Not keeping maintains – Treated as an experiment.
3) Not sourcing content – Hard pressed to write a good content if does not make editorially.

The examples of corporate blogs:
Johnson & Johnson: JNJ BTW
Yahoo!'s Yodel Anecdotal
Network Solutions, Solutions Are Power
Coca-Cola Conversations
SUPERSEED (charity blog, Asia)
eBay Ink

We are here sharing the video relates to usefulness of corporate blog

http://vizedu.com/2009/03/corporate-blogs-challenges-and-success-factors/

Electronic currency

Electronic currency is refers to exchanging or trading the money electronically. A person is able to make payment for the goods or services through the internet. E-currency just like real cash and it is reusable. It has been widely in use in the countries like Singapore and Hong Kong. For instance, direct deposit and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) is the main types of the e-currency.

Why electronic currency is created?

As there is the increasing of the criminal case, it creates a lot of troublesome issue if carried a lot of paper money in hand. In order to protect for the users, credit cards, debit cards, online banking, exchanging of electronic currency ahs been created. It has lessened the usage of the paper money and convenient to the users.

There are some advantages of the electronic currency.

1) E-currency provides the confidentiality and privacy for the users. When users sent an e-currency amount to the businesses, it does not contain any private information to the businesses. It is totally different with the credit card system.

2) Security of E-currency is strengthened by using the encryption which is known as RSA cryptography. It requires the authorities to use a trustworthy system and eliminate the risk of breaking the code of a digital signature.

3) As the users are able to transfer the e-currency through the internet, it saves time for the users without going out to the bank to make transaction.

However, there are still some drawbacks of the electronic currency.

1) The major problem may occur is fraud. If users accidentally misplace their private key, the perpetrator may use this opportunity to withdraw their money.

2) Peer-to-peer double spending of digital coins. Let say the users choose not to involve bank as an intermediary. If the digital coins are sent to the wrong places, they have to bear their losses.

Electronic currency has brought a lot of benefit for the users. Nevertheless, there is still need more improvement in the research and development to reduce the risk of disadvantages faced by the users especially fraud.

Ebay is one of the example that are using e-currency.