The E-commerce industry is a rapidly growing phenomenon, which is grabbing hold of all types of companies and businesses. Along with the World Wide Web and Internet, online shopping and purchasing is become a regular habit in today's society. However with more and more people purchasing goods and services online, there is always the important topic of online security and payment methods. This paper will review the different aspects of e-commerce security and payment by looking at the different resources, which explain and elaborate their importance and significance to the entire online industry. .
It is first important to define both Internet security and Internet payment options. Internet security is often referred to the ability to protect the information your computer sends across the World Wide Web. Whenever one sends information across the Internet, it often takes an indirect route through several intermediary computers.1 By taking such a route you are often not in control of your information once it leaves your computer and therefore it is usually susceptible to potential infiltration. This is the reason why Internet security is such a hot topic in today's business world, being able to provide a safe and hacker-free environment for customers to use when shopping online. This leads into the second topic. Internet payment methods include the ability for the user/customer to be able to purchase goods and services online and across the Internet. In its initial stage, trying to buy something online only included the use of a credit card.2 However, after years of losing potential customers who were unwilling to put that type of information across the Internet, various alternatives were implemented. .
As in any new area, the number of new entrants is increasing exponentially with equally large numbers exiting within a year or two. Here are some of the key players to watch out for: Paypal, TradEnable, eCharge Phone, Mondex and Internet Cash.