Chapter VI - Think Mobile

Despite the huge adoption of smart phones in US, a huge percentage of business are not aware of the mobile commerce. According to Google 79% of companies are not prepared for this new boundary in world of the electronic commerce. Mobile is changing everything. Since its always plugged to the Web the device is merging what we use to call digital activity with the real activities. Browsing used to be an online activity we do at home or with our laptops but now, with mobile, its becoming something we do on-the-go and this is a new challenge for companies.

The classic funnel process through purchasing is changing radically. With consumers using mobile to research products, compare prices and interacting with other users along the way, consumers are becoming smart and this is transferring a huge bargain power to the client and once more changing the rivalry forces. Competition must now be aware on how to deal with this empowered consumer.  


Recent data published by Google points out that:

• 39% use the Internet on their smartphones while going to the bathroom
• 70% have used their smartphones while shopping in-store
• 88% of people looking for local information have taken action within a day
• 82% of smartphone users notice mobile ads

Although the future is still open. Till now mobile is been used as a laptop extension with all the browsing and network capacity. So in the end of the funnel process the transaction is made with a credit card information or through a payment system such as PayPal. But the mobile industry is changing very fast and with the introduction of the mobile payment technology, the reality of electronic transactions will be augmented to a new level. 

Chapter X - ELECTRONIC COMMERCE SECURITY * Smart Shoppers attracts Smart Cyber Criminals

Users have always been the weakest point in terms of cyber security threats. System and network administrators are constantly updating and maintaining their computers network with the latest technology to prevent and contain a variety of security risks but the headache is always users behavior. Weak passwords, careless browsing, indiscipline towards security policies are some of the flaws committed by users which could open back doors of the systems and compromise corporate data, assets and in the worst scenario, represents huge financial losses to companies.

With the rising trend of smartphone adoption the risk is now been transferred to users pockets. Smart shoppers are using their devices through all the transaction funnel. The possibility to buy goods or services and make financial transaction such as, money transfer through the Smartphone devices is available now to half of the Americans. The growing popularity is attracting criminals and antivirus firms are reporting for 2010 the rise of 46% of security threats to mobile devices.

Virus, trojan horses and other malicious codes usually build to target PCs are now directed to mobile devices.  Hidden between applications and games these threats take advantage of connectivity and computing power of the devices to trigger every kind of criminal actions such as destroy data, spying user, steal personal information, make calls, send messages or even take control of the device and use it remotely to attack servers.

Sloopy codes of the applications are other entry sources for malware attacks. In 2009 Citigroup launched a mobile banking application for iPhone which was not properly sealed and could have let criminals access to the banking information for 118,000 clients who downloaded the application. Fortunately the flaw was discover before any attack and clients didn't lost money or information. These kind of threat highlights the risk that is around and how desirable the mobile platform is becoming for cyber-criminals.


Symbiam OS is the most affect by these threats but Android is becoming highly targeted. With a huge base of applications, specialists are saying that 2% of the apps are able to send messages without user's knowledge, while 5% can dial without permission, and since Android OS is an open platform the vulnerability is very high. Contrasting, till now the iOS from Apple is the most secure. Applications in the Apple Store are submitted to a verification process to guaranty that they are secure before going online.

However, since most user don't even think about security on smartphones, vendors are all working on to make the mobile OS more secure, locking down possible entry's and creating centralize feature to neutralize menaces.

Online Sources:
King5Technology
MobileMedia
VentureBeat
Articles:
- Bloomberg Business Week - Smartphones Apps Go (Trully) Viral
- SC Magazine - Smart Target

Chapter VIII - Moving from the old to the new Internet Protocol

ICANN's ceromony to allocate the last five blocks of IPv4 address - February 3rd, 2011. Miami

35 years ago, Mr. Vint Cerf and scientists colleagues decided that a pool of 4,3 billion network address spaces would be enough to allocate an experiment of connecting computers in an advanced data network. At that time nobody could predict what now became the Internet with 2 billion users around the globe and all its transversal impacts in the modern society. 


On February 3rd, 2010, the network naming system protocol (IPv4) - which is the unique sequence of number assigned to each website, computer or device connected to the Internet - was considered completed depleted by ICANN when the last five blocks were allocated to the 5 registries region in the globe.

Now the world is shifting to the new Internet Protocol (IPv6) which represents a huge expansion of the pool of addresses and creates a new base for Internet growth. Fortunately, this was predicted and since late 90s, when the IPv6 was approved, organizations all over the world are preparing for the change. 


For many sources, this situation reminds the Millennium bug when computers and software needed to be updated so they could recognize the year 2000 and beyond. But the Internet Protocol migration seems far more complex because the two protocol families are largely incompatible, and as long the the process will be shifting gradually, the Internet will be working in a dual slack. So there is no end date for the migration and during this, users could experience shutdown on their Internet networks. 


Concerns about this issues is being addressed everywhere by Internet authorities, governments, regulators, corporations and network specialists. For users, the shift should be smooth and be something like "changing gears" in the words of the father of the Internet. Meanwhile, as long the IPv6 is prepared to connect a board range of the devices to the Internet, users could need held to setup their devices, routers, systems and applications. 


Globally countries are also running to adopt the new protocol. In Cape Verde, the regulator for Internet and Telecommunication has been organizing workshops and activities to prepare for the migration. For this country, which has only 9 IP address ranges, IPv6 represents a big gate to expand Internet infrastructure, mobile connectivity and services based on such as e-commerce, e-learning, and consolidate the e-government initiative.


Hopefully IPv6 will represent a real development opportunity for a country like Cape Verde who will have real chances to expand the Cyber Islands project and become a hub of services in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. 


Sources:
ICANN - Nonprofit corporation that coordinates the Internet Naming System
ANAC - Cape Verde's Regulator for Internet and Telecommunication
Q&A about IPv6
IPv6 and developing countries
Drumming up more Addresses on the Internet
Avoiding the pitfalls when transitioning to IPv6
Going IPv6 isn't going to be easy