E-commerce sites such as eBay or Networking sites like Telegram contain different security needs because of their varying users, their roles, possible threats faced, and the information they collect. This work aims to discuss the security needs of e-commerce and Networking sites and how they compare and differ.
The security needs for social networking sites and e-commerce sites are based on several factors. The first factor that I will discuss is Information collection. E-commerce sites acquire much customer information, such as demographic data, billing data, browsing activity, shipping details, and purchase history (shakhmametyev et al., 2018). This information is vital for giving a personalized shopping experience, managing inventory, and detecting fraudulent activity (shakhmametyev et al., 2018). On the other hand, Social marketing sites such as Facebook acquire similar information regarding the users, such as personal information, communication activity, and browsing history (Zhang & Gupta, 2018). However, the type of information collected by social networking sites is often more sensitive since it contains individual personal information, private details, and chat information, among other things.
Another one is users. Social marketing sites have much broader users, including customers, third-party users, advertisers, and content creators. These users mostly have to share their personal information and also have private massager where they have private chats (Zhang & Gupta, 2018). On the other hand, E-commerce sites such as Alibaba have only one kind of user; the customers. These users may be anonymous or registered users, but in either case, they are using the site to engage in transactions only.
There are possible threats for both e-commerce and social networking sites, such as phishing scams, malware attacks, and data breaches (shakhmametyev et al., 2018). However, the threat each faces is based on the information type collected and the users served. For instance, e-commerce sites can be targeted by hackers who aim to steal personal payment information and hack their accounts (shakhmametyev et al., 2018). On the other hand, social networking sites like Facebook are targeted by cybercriminals who aim to steal personal information or spread malware through social engineering tactics (Morales et al., 2017).
Information collected by each site may be accessed by the government and the group interested. Examples include advertisers and marketers who may want to acquire the information to facilitate their ads target and the specific demographics based on what they advertise (Zhang & Gupta, 2018). Either the government agencies such as Law enforcement may need the information to do their investigations. For instance, they may desire to know the last chat an individual had on a social media platform or the last purchases the person made.
Based on the given information, it is clear that social networking sites and e-commerce differ in different ways. Ecommerce protects personal financial information, while social networking sites protect individual privacy and content management (Zhang & Gupta, 2018). In terms of security measures, both can employ firewalls, encryption, and other protection measures that prevent unauthorized access from acquiring individual details (shakhmametyev et al., 2018). Social networking sites can also use content moderation and machine learning algorithms to detect and remove unwanted content, while e-commerce sites use two-factor authentication to prevent fraudulent transactions (Morales et al., 2017).
In conclusion, E-commerce sites such as Amazon or Networking sites like Facebook contain different security needs because of their varying users, their roles, possible threats faced, and the information they collect. There are possible threats for both e-commerce and social networking sites, such as phishing scams, malware attacks, and data breaches. Both employ firewalls, encryption, and other protection measures that prevent unauthorized access to acquiring individual details. Social networking sites can also use content moderation and machine learning algorithms to detect and remove unwanted content, while e-commerce sites use two-factor authentication to prevent fraudulent transactions.
References
Zhang, Z., & Gupta, B. B. (2018). Social media security and trustworthiness: overview and new direction. Future Generation Computer Systems, pp. 86, 914–925.
SHAKHMAMETYEV, A. A., STRELETS, I. A., & LEBEDEV, K. A. (2018). Strategic mechanisms for the future development of the international e-commerce market. Revista Espacios, 39(27).
Morales, K., Sosa-Fey, J., & Farias, J. (2017). Social Media: Are the benefits worth the risks for business? International Journal of Business & Public Administration, 14(1).
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