Chapter 9 Key Concepts

Chapter 9 - Electronic Commerce Software

· Self Hosting-when companies need to incorporate electronic commerce components; they may opt to run servers in house.
· Shared Hosting-means that the client’s web site is on a server that hosts other web sites simultaneously and is operated by the service provider at its location.
· Dedicated Hosting-the server provider makes a Web server available to the client, but the client does not share the server with other clients of the service provider.
· Collocation Service-the service provider rents a physical space to the client to install its own server hardware.
· Scalable-the best hosting services provide Web server hardware and software combinations that are scalable; which means they can be adapted to meet changing requirements when their clients grow.

All Electronic Commerce solutions must at least provide (CST):
· A catalogue display
· Shopping cart capabilities
· Transaction processing


· Catalogue-is a listing of goods and services.
· Static Catalogue-is a simple list, written in HTML that appears on a Web page or a series of web pages.
· Dynamic Catalogue-stores the information about times in a database, usually on a separate computer that is accessible to the server that is running the descriptions, and a search tool that allows customers to search for an item and determine its availability.
· Interoperability-is making a company’s information systems work together.
o Middleware-a software program that larger companies use to establish the connections between their electronic commerce software and their existing accounting system.
· Application Program/Software-a program that performs a specific function, such as creating invoices, calculating payroll, or processing payments received from customers.
· Application Server-is a computer that takes the request messages received by the Web server and runs application programs that perform some kind of action based on the contents of the request message.
· Database Manager-is software that stores information in a highly structured way.
· Distributed Information Systems-large information systems that store the same data in many different physical locations; and the databases within those systems are called distributed database systems.
· Web Services-a combination of software tools that let application software in one organization communicate with other applications over a network by using a specific set of standard protocols known by their acronyms.
· Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)-is a message passing protocol that defines how to send marked up data from one software application to another across a network.
· Web Services Description Language (WSDL)-the characteristics of the logic units that make up specific web services are described using WSDL.
· Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) Specification-the set of protocols that identify locations of Web services and their associated WSDL descriptions.
· Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)-these software packages are business systems that integrate all facets of a business, including accounting, logistics, manufacturing, marketing, planning, project management, and treasury functions.
· Data Mining-looking for hidden patterns in data; can help businesses find customers with common interests and discover previously unknown relationships amongst the data.
· Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software-must obtain data from operations software that conducts activities such as sales automation, customer service centre operations, and marketing campaigns.
· Content Management Software-helps companies control the large amounts of text, graphics, and media files that have become a key part of doing business.

· Knowledge Management (KM) Software-the software that has been developed to meet the goal of managing the knowledge within documents.
o Helps to do 4 main things (C PES):
§ (1) Collect and organize information
§ (2) Share the information amongst users
§ (3) Enhance the ability of users to collaborate
§ (4) Preserve the knowledge gained through the use of information so that future users can benefit from the learning of current users.

· Computer Security-is the protection of assets from unauthorized access, use, alternation, or destruction.
· Physical Security-includes tangible protection devices, such as alarms, guards, fireproof doors, security fences, safes or vaults, and bombproof buildings.
· Logical Security-protection of assets using non-physical means.
· Threat-any act or object that poses a danger to computer assets.
· Countermeasure-is the general name for a procedure, either physical or logical, that recognizes, reduces, or eliminates a threat.
· Eavesdropper-in this context is a person or device that can listen in on a copy Internet transmission.
· Crackers/Hackers-people who write programs or manipulate technologies to obtain unauthorized access to computers and networks. White hat hacker and black hat hacker are the differences between good and bad hackers.
· Secrecy-refers to protecting against unauthorized data disclosure and ensuring the authenticity of the data source.
· Integrity-refers to preventing unauthorized data modification.
· Necessity-refers to preventing data delays or denials.
· Security Policy-is a written statement describing which assets to protect and why they are being protected, who is responsible for that protection, and which behaviours are acceptable and which are not.
· Stateless Connection-each transmission of information is independent; that is, no continuous connections (also called an open session) are maintained between any client and server over the Internet.
· Session Cookies-exist until the web client ends the connection or session.
· Persistent Cookies-remain on the clients computer indefinitely.
· Web Bug-is a tiny graphic that a third party web site places on another site’s web page.
· Active Content-refers to programs that are embedded transparently in web pages and that cause action to occur.
· Applet-a small application program.
· Trojan Horse-is a program hidden inside another program or Web page that masks its true purpose.
· Zombie-is a Trojan horse that secretly takes over another computer for the purpose of launching attacks on other computers.
· Javascript-a scripting language developed by Netscape to enable Web page designers to build active content.
· activeX-an activeX control is an object that contains programs and properties that Web designers place on Web pages to perform particular tasks.
· Plug Ins-are programs that enhance the capabilities of browsers and handle web content that a browser cannot handle.
· Multivector Virus-named this because they can enter a computer system through several different ways (vectors).
· Antivirus Software-detects viruses and worms and either deletes them or isolates them on the client computer so they cannot run.
· Digital Certificate or Digital ID-is an attachment to an email message or program embedded in a Web page that verifies that the sender or Web site is who or what it claims to be.
· Steganography-describes the process of hiding information within another piece of information.