Weaving A More Secure Web

Weaving A More Secure Web by Steve Mills (NAPSA)—Conflicting news about Internet security does not always compute. Online commerce is the fastest growing marketplace on earth and online fraud accounts for less than 1.2 cents out of every # dollar spent online. Yet credit card fraud is reported to be 12 times higher online than in-store and online fraud occurs four times more frequently than the “old-fashioned” kind. However all technologies— from phone to Internet service— have risks that need to be man- aged against their business impact. Thetrick for businessis to find a way to maintain security and a company’s bottom line. Try these tips to get the most out of the Web for your business. Focus On The Opportunity— able to update online access rights without having to recode multiple applications for each employee. Web Commerce—Ease-of- It’s important that IT profession- use, flexibility and economy need an IT professional is to identify (date of birth, Social Security number, etc.) before they can use als don’t focus only on the security challenges in front of them while ignoring the business opportunities they can represent. Thejob of then minimize risk in a way that lets business still introduce new technology. e Remember Integration— Companies should be sure any added security they use integrates easily and flexibly across the busi- ness and is easy to deploy and manage. For example, as employees enter and leave the IT business, administrators need to be to be built in to the way a company handles Web commercerisk. Currently, consumers are asked to enter several levels of information a credit card online. It’s important any additional protections weed out any would-be bad guys, but do not limit ease-of-use. With the right ideas, companies can improve online security without getting their business goals caught up in the Web. Steve Mills is senior vice president for IBM Software Group.