Having seen and gone through the topic of E-Business in Mr Abel Choy's lesson, I was quite happy and rather relieved as I remembered studying and acquiring prior knowledge of E-business during my poly days. Interdisciplinary studies were a must for us and "Understanding E-business" was what I took...
We could use e-commerce for a wide range of business functions which include
*Information sharing, ordering & payment, fulfilment and service & support.
The components of a 3-tier structure includes
*Client, server and the database management system
E-commerce uses several different kinds of messaging applications such as Email & Automated financial transactions
Some facts...
The above mentioned messaging applications require special security measures to protect the privacy of the sender and receiver. An example would be the SSL (Secure Socket Layer), a security protocol.
**SSL is used to secure confidential user information such as the credit card nos.
For instance, when an internet shopper is ordering roses from an online flower store...
The SSL will first authenticate the server using a public key. It means to the shopper that he/she is communicating with the flower store and not some other sites.
Secondly, client authentication is done using a private key and this in turn, proves to the online flower store that the client is indeed "real".
Once the credit card number is authenticated, the online store will proceed with the ordering.
Thirdly, data integrity(protection of transmitted data) is ensured so as not to enable a hacker to modify any info using integrity check-value.
Lastly, SSL provides confidentiality by encrypting the transmitted data.
