lelong.com.my is a Malaysia’s online auction and shopping site. The most basic of a successful site and company is that having its own logo to identify themselves and create a brand name for customers to remember them easier. lelong.com.my has its own logo displayed on its first page as show below.

Besides logo it has many banners on this site, as part of their income to advertise for people. It may look a little mess with massive banners around the products that is being displayed. This site’s main page includes few tabs or links to other sections such as Homepage, Buying, Selling, Ladies, Pay, Forum and Help section which makes user easier to navigate through the site. Below is the screenshot taken from the site, the red circle is those excessive banners.

lelong.com.my provide three types of main language in the website (Malay, Chinese and English) which enables different races in Malaysia able to view and use this site and enhance their range of business.

When the auction item is being clicked or selected, it will bring you to the page that shows all the details about the item, this gives customers the information they seek for without having trouble to inquire the auction item owner. It provide the basic important details such as the current bid, shipment method, payment method, product description (screenshots & features). The most important is the seller’s reputation, it may be hard to track down the seller’s reputation even though there is a rating for each seller or buyer, it may be rated by other accounts created by themselves. When you buying things online, you need to take more precautious step, such as survey around the forum for particular seller’s background.

Related link(s):

• http://www.lelong.com.my/

Prepared by Ng Thim Soon

The Times newspaper first reported this issue on February 2008, that the UK government is considering legislation to ban people from the internet access if they found guilty of online copyright theft.

The proposal suggested that broadband firms which failed to enforce the rules could be prosecuted, and the details of customers suspected of making illegal downloads made available to the courts.

If this law were enacted, internet service providers like BT, Tiscali and Virgin would have to monitor traffic on the internet in order to look out for copyright files being swapped online.

However, the possibility of taking this law in action is doubtful as it seems unpractical and insufficient. There are estimated 6 million people a year that download files illegally in UK. The ISPs Association stated that ISPs bear no liability for illegal file sharing as the content is not hosted on their servers.

“ISPs are no more able to inspect and filter every single packet passing across their network than the Post Office is able to open every envelope,” it added.

Another question is will ISPs spend a huge amount of money to corporate with this law and monitor its user’s activities? After all, banning customers and exposing themselves to billions in liability is not a good business strategy.

Besides, it is hard to define whether the files is illegal downloading or legal activities from sharing files with torrents, using VolP, photo sharing and others.

Overall, this is an interesting post. The author can add on own suggestions or opinions on the issue.

Related Link(s):

http://ecommerze.blogspot.com/2008/02/uk-to-get-tough-with-illegal-downloader.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7240234.stm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/02/uk_takes_tough_stance_on_pirac.html

Prepared by Lim Xin Ying

Example of fraud

1. Bid Shielding

The consumer need to take note that, there are the fraud which having phantom bidders bid at a very high price when an auction begin; they pull out at the last minute, and the real bidder who bid a much lower price win

2. Selling Reproductions as Originals

There are also have the seller sells something that the seller claims is original, but it turn out to be a production.

3. Fake Escrow Services

Consumer also need to take note of the party who presenting itself as an independent trusted third party, a fake service will take the seller’s items and the buyer’s money and disappear.

Example of preventing method

1. User Identity Verification

User can prevent from fraud if they take note that the uses of user identity verification. eBay uses the services of Equifax to verify user identities for $5 fee. Verify eBay User, a voluntary program, encourages user to supply eBay with information for online verification. By offering their Social Security number, driver’s license number, and date of birth, user can qualify for the highest level of verification on eBay.

2. Physical Inspection

Consumer also must try to buy goods from those sellers who provide physical inspection. Providing for a physical inspection can eliminate many problems. This is especially true for collectors’ item. When the seller and buyer are in the same vicinity, it is easy to arrange for such inspections. eBay offers inspection services on the regional basic, so buyer can arrange for nearby inspection.

3. Nonpayment Punishment

Consumer must realize the consequence if they fail to make payment. eBay implemented a policy against those who do not honor their winning bids. To protect the sellers, a 1st time nonpayment by a buyer result in a friendly warning. A sterner warning is issued for 2nd offense, a 30-day suspension for a 3rd offense, and indefinite suspension for a 4th offense.

Related link(s):

• http://www.internetnews.com/fina-news/article/0%2C%2C5_564411%2C00.html
• http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/ebay/ebay.html
• http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0%2C4586%2C2676115%2C00.html
• http://www.ecommercetimes.com/success_stories/success-ebay.shtml
• http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_22/b3631001.htm
• http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/story/story_3108.html
• http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/gonealrt.htm

Prepared by Chiew Su Young

Companies are struggle for customer share and need to shore up their corporate message in any way they can. Corporate blogging is another communications and marketing channel. However, unlike a press release, advertisement in a magazine or a listing in the Yellow Pages, corporate blogs are two-way communications. Corporate blogging has the opportunity to reach thousands of interested people without large advertising budget, yet can significantly strengthen your client-customer relationship.

A corporate blog can be used in any number of ways, such as an informational hub to an online diary for a sales rep. They are quite similar in with the personal blog. They deliver on-point messages to anyone who reads it. Since blog entries often have a personal touch, they tend to reach readers in ways a company homepage cannot. This is where creative and well written blogs can always keeps people coming back. A blog is not a venue for the hard sale but instead resources where readers can stay informed or sign up for newsletters and e-mailings.

So how can a blog boost your business sales?

The blog not only helps you build stronger relationships with important target groups such as clients, the media, the general public and shareholders. It also provides:

·         You with an opportunity to run low cost public relationship.

·         Your customers with information they might need. In other words, they see you as an expert.

·         Your customers with some human interaction in the website- give comments.  

·         Your business the opportunity to build a group of followers.

·         Your business a chance to get instant feedback for new products or ideas.

·         Help to your website rank higher in the search engines.

Conclusion, the blogging model might span rapidly to cover all aspects of business activities such as customer service, product and services marketing, technical support, product evaluation and others. The human need to bond and communicate authentically will shape the business world.

Corporate blog examples(click thumbnail for full size):

Mobile payment systems can be used for purchasing musics, ringtones, wallpaper and games (there are many of these type of service or product offered in Malaysia’s newspaper). Most Malaysian buy these ringtones and games via mobile payment, either via GPRS/WAP or SMS (premium SMS based transactional payments).

There are few types of mobile transaction can be made:

• Premium SMS transaction
• WAP (mobile web)
• Mobile payment providers

Premium SMS transactions are the most common in Malaysia, most mobile users download thier wallpaper, music, ringtones and mobile games by buying them through SMS payment. SMS payment requires you to send a certain code to certain number to confirm you want to buy those products.

Example of such advetisement for these products or services:

WAP payment is similar to SMS, you are required to select product you want from the web and a confirmation message will be displayed to you with the details of product before u can confirm it.

Mobile payment provider is different they uses SMS and Web, it helps to extend the ability of mobile payment. There are few mobile payment providers in Malaysia, such as Mobile Money (http://mobile-money.com.my/index.html) who provides variety of products and services. By registering an account with mobile payment provider, you can top up your credit to them and use it to purchase products or services offered by them.

Mobile Money offers products such as food and beverages, car accessories and personal care products which can be viewed from thier website. They also offer services such as buying or paying broadband bills(Streamyx) by SMS the code of product to them.

Potentials

The potential for this market is quite big, because it is very convenient to use mobile payment. The mobile payment providers have a large market share to be grab on. This mobile payment is still new and developing in Malaysia. It has potential to continue to grow as consumer’s confidence on mobile payment increased. Mobile payment providers has most potential for growing.

To put it simple:

• Market still at developing stage
• Many mobile phone users
• Low competition

Strategies:

1. Educate consumers about mobile payments, how to use and introduce its functions (e.g. bill payment, mobile purchase)
2. Enchance security and confidence to mobile users
3. Collaborate with more banks and companies to widen the ability to pay via mobile at the same time it helps to increased customer’s satisfaction and confidence
4. Maintain customer’s loyalty

Related link(s):

• http://mobile-money.com.my/about_us.htm
• http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid40_gci772807,00.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_payment
• http://www.mymode.com.my/html/new/index.jsp

Prepared by Ng Thim Soon

Major electronic currencies on the net are:

 Digital currency. Russian. WebMoney Transfer is the global payment system available to all people worldwide. WebMoney (WM) is electronic or virtual unit of measure stored in WebMoney purses (high-security electronic accounts). Payments are made instantly with just a single mouse click with private, encrypted certificate for accessing account.

   Located in San Jose, California, PayPal was founded in 1998 and was acquired by eBay in 2002. It is the safer, easier way to pay and get paid online. The service is available in many ways through credit cards, bank accounts, buyer credit or account balances, without sharing financial information. It enables global ecommerce by making payments possible across different locations, currencies, and languages. PayPal has received more than 20 awards for excellence from the internet industry and the business community including the 2006 Webby Award for Best Financial Services Site and the 2006 Webby People’s Voice Award for Best Financial Services Site. PayPal is now available in 190 markets and 17 currencies around the world.

  Ikobo is an online payment system. Users can send and receive money online instantly from over 700,000 ATMs in over 170 international countries.

   Moneybookers enable users to pay anyone with an email address. The recipient receives the payment instantly. It beats the cost, delay and inconvenience of traditional payment methods. Clients can send money from a credit card, transfer money to and from a bank account. Moneybookers accepts more than a dozen world currencies, fund & withdraw via bank wire transfer, credit card or e-gold. Merchant business services offered with site integration for accepting payments.

Prepaid cash card is similar to a credit or debit cards, however they are difference in some ways. Credit cards are the least like prepaid cash cards because with a credit card the fund are essentially borrowed from the lender, and then you pay the funds back. If the balance of the credit card is not paid back in full by the next statement, the remaining balance is charged interest. Basically, with a credit card you borrow the money and then pay it back later.

Debit cards and prepaid cash cards are similar because they both use your existing money, rather than borrowing. Both debit cards and prepaid cash cards draw funds from your bank account, usually a checking account.

 The difference is that debit cards can be used without a personal identification number to make purchases where the card is not present. Debit card transactions usually need a personal identification number to be keyed into a terminal in order for the transaction to be authorized, but not always. This is why online merchants do not need your personal identification number and why you may come across a terminal or point of sale merchant that allows you to use your debit card with a simple swipe and no personal identification number entry.

Since prepaid cash cards always need a personal identification number to be keyed in for the transaction to be authorized, unless you tell someone your personal identification number, no one else can ever use your card. This means that if someone steals your card information, or your physical prepaid cash cards, you do not need to worry about them using your money. This is why prepaid cash cards are considered the most secure and safe financial transaction cards.

Benefit of the prepaid cards:

Availability – There are no credit checks, which means you can get a card without worrying about your credit history. All prepaid card providers will carry out an Identity check to confirm you are who you say you are.

Control – Prepaid cards are an ideal way to budget for yourself or help to manage your children’s spending. Like a credit card you get a full breakdown of spending on the card so you can see what has been purchased, who from and when.

No debt risk – With a prepaid card there is no chance of spending too much as you are limited to the amount you put on your card.

The card for travel – As well as being able to top up the card, depending on the specific provider, you will be able to use it at ATMs worldwide.

Relation Link(s):

• http://www.accountnow.net/
• http://www.moneysupermarket.com/

Prepared by Soh Siew Wei

For some, credit cards can prove a temptation too far, and soon people will find themselves in debt without their knowledge. There are several causes and way to prevent people from dropping into the credit card debt.

Missing payment

The fastest way to get into credit difficulties is by not repaying the minimum payment required. This will affect the user’s credit rating because the interest was charge by the bank and the number of debt become bigger and bigger that make the user more difficult to make the full payment. Missed payments may result in the card being refused at retailers until payment is made. The solution is simple; set up a Direct Debit for the minimum amount and pay off as much of the remaining balance as possible to keep the debt low.

Poor money management

People also always do not know where their money is spending or keep on spending without plan or budget. They usually spent on unnecessary things and when there is a need of purchasing a required commodity people may short of cash and use a credit card frequently ending up in debt. That may cause the increasing of credit card debt. So, develop a monthly spending plan to know where your money is going such as develop debt management. People are in control of their money when they make thoughtful decisions about where and when to spend the money.

Underemployment

Creditors freely provide bad –credit -credit -cards, to the consumers who already have credit card debt, on easy terms and hidden costs to such consumers. The debt keeps increasing day- by -day. That’s when people use credit cards to pay off other cards and loans to pay off other loans them not paying off anything. They’re just shuffling the debt around and incurring more debt each time they do so. Balance transfers have transaction fees and most loans have some kind of down payment or origination fee. The best thing to do in such a situation is to decrease the expenses and down the road increase the income by extra hours work or a better job. Adopt debt consolidation, counseling, debt management, debt settlement or any other method and limit the use of credit cards to emergencies only if they actually want to live a debt free life.

Gambling

Gambling is popular entertainment. Everyone likes to gamble with the money they have. How many come back home with a bag full of cash, very few. The guarantee in this game of chance is that will be definitely paying to the house. Gambling loans are also available which lead to debt. This addictive and very hard to stop game can take away everything people owe. The solution is only advise people don’t go to gambling or develop themselves in the health hobbies. 

Prepared by Chiew Su Young

How Safe is Our Data?

55% of online users have been infected with spyware

    55% of online users said they had been infected with spyware, and 82% believed it posed a threat to online privacy, according to Bigfoot Interactive

Only 7% of companies officially run Service Pack 2

    AssetMetrix Research Labs released the results of a survey of 251 North American companies, measuring the adoption of Windows XP Service Pack 2. Only 7% of companies had actively embraced Windows XP Service Pack 2, according to the New York Times.

Instant messaging security threats doubling every 6 months

    Gartner predicted that by the end of 2005, instant messaging will surpass e-mail as the primary way people interact electronically. The Radicati Group says that “more than 85% of all enterprises report using instant messaging for business”. Symantec claims that instant messengers and peer-to-peer applications were used in 7 of the top 10 Internet threats in 2004, with IM security threats growing at 100% every six months.

Spyware to reach 25% of business PCs

    Forrester Research predicts spyware infection levels will reach 25% in 12 months, prompting 65% of companies surveyed to say they will invest in anti-spyware tools and upgrades this year. Some 80% of companies surveyed have already deployed specialized tools to deal with the problem.

The above graph shows the percentage of daily queries that contain at least one search result labeled as harmful. In the past few months, more than 1% of all search results contained at least one result that we believe to point to malicious content and the trend seems to be increasing.

Threat of Online Security

• Apply regular updates and patches as they become available.
• Employ security software and hardware such as firewalls and authentication servers.
• Do not use default passwords and other values that are provided with your software.

According to the SANS Institute (SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security Institute), the top ten threats are:

• Web servers and services. Default HTTP (Web) servers have had several vulnerabilities, and numerous patches have been issued over the past several years. Make sure all your patches are up to date, and do not use default configurations or default demonstration applications. These vulnerabilities may lead to denial-of-service attacks and other types of threats.
• Workstation service. An attacker can obtain full control over a computer by compromising the Windows Workstation service, which is normally used to route user requests.
• Windows remote access services. A variety of remote access methods are included by default on most systems. These systems can be very useful, but also very dangerous, and an attacker with the right tools can easily gain control over a host.
• Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL). Several vulnerabilities exist in MSSQL that could allow an attacker to gain information from a database or compromise the server. In addition to applying all the latest patches, enabling SQL Server Authentication Logging and securing the server at both the network and system level will prevent most of these attacks.
• Windows authentication. Most Windows systems use passwords, but passwords can be easily guessed or stolen. Creating stronger, more difficult to guess passwords, not using default passwords, and following a recommended password policy will prevent password attacks.
• Web browsers. Your window to the Internet, a Web browser contains many vulnerabilities. Common exploits may include disclosure of “cookies” with personal information, the execution of rogue code that could compromise a system, and exposure of locally-stored files. Configuring the browser’s security settings for a setting higher than the default value will prevent most Web browser attacks.
• File sharing applications. Peer-to-peer (P2P) programs are commonly used to share files. In a P2P system, computers are open to others in the P2P network to allow for all participants to search for and download files from one another. Many corporations forbid use of P2P networks because of the obvious risk of compromised data.
• LSAS exposures. The Windows Local Security Authority Subsystem (LSAS) has a critical buffer overflow that can be exploited by an attacker to gain control over the system. Again, proper configuration and application of patches will prevent most exploits.
• Mail client.  Attackers can use the mail client on a computer to spread worms or viruses, by including them as attachments in emails. Configuring the mail server appropriately, and blocking attachments such as .exe or .vbs files, will prevent most mail client attacks.
• Instant messaging.  Many corporations also block employees from using instant messaging, not only because of the technical threats but also because of the possibility of lost productivity. Configuring IM properly, applying all the latest patches, and taking control over any file transfers that occur over IM will prevent most attacks.

Related Link(s):

• http://www.esafe.com/csrt/security-statistics.aspx
• http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/09/26/identity.hacker/index.html

Prepared by Lim Xin Ying

We always exposed our personal information, names, addresses, phone numbers, and identity card number, bank and credit card number and other financial data to other parties such as government institutes, e-commerce companies, website operator and financial institutions.

There are some advices to individual concerning how to prevent personal and financial data from being used illegally by third parties.

1.    Always keep their receipts, bank account statements, credit-card bills, or even addressed direct mail (DM). If people want to throw away these documents as trash, they should shred them first.

2.    Pay attention to regular mail such as monthly bills or bank account statements if there is any delay of deliver, to find out whether they have been stolen or any other reasons.

3.    Clearly check the expenditure items listed on credit card bills to see whether there are any abnormal expenses. If unexpected purchases are found, people should find their causes and make sure their personal data have not been stolen.

4.    Inform banks, government units or relevant units about change of address to ensure mail is properly sent to the new address.

5.    Close those bank accounts that are seldom used to minimize the possibility that leaked of personal identification information.

6.      People can now easily access to websites anywhere, they should always remember that not to key in their personal identification data into public use computers located at café facilities or public libraries.

 For the financial institute to protect consumers’ personal financial information, experts suggest that three areas of operation present special challenges and risks to information security.

• Firstly, employee training and management about the information safeguard.
• Secondly, information systems including network and software design and information processing, storage, transmission and retrieval.
• Thirdly, security management including the prevention, detection and response to attacks, intrusions or other system failures.

Financial institutions are mandated to pay special attention to these areas by defining specific measures to manage the risks posed. Measures can include antivirus software, firewalls, password resets, authentication software and smart cards.

Related Link(s):

• http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=search01&sNum=0&resultCount=15&source=4&keywords=Safeguard+Personal+Data

Prepared by Soh Siew Wei