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THE USE OF THE INTERNET IN BUSINESS

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The use of the internet in business The evolution of the internet and the subsequent globalization has considerably influenced the way people conduct business. The internet describes a global network of computers that can send data and information over long distances in a short time (Fleisch, Weinberger & Wortmann 2015, 6). Although the use of the internet comes with a handful of benefits to businesses and society, it also has some adverse effects as well. Consequently, organizations need to take privacy and security measures to curb the threats posed by the use of the internet (Luna et al. 2016, 2). Although modern businesses and society use the internet for communication, promotion and advertising, e-commerce, and maintaining public relations, its use comes with negatives such as exposing them to cyber crimes, inappropriate content such as pornography, and internet addiction. Since the use of the internet also exposes businesses to cyber threats, individuals should take measures such as using strong passwords, comprehensive security software, and firewalls to prevent them. Positive and negative of internet use to businesses and society Positive internet use Various positive uses of the internet to businesses and society exist. Such uses include communication. Communication is one of the significant uses of the internet in businesses across the globe. The invention of the internet fostered the development of various ways of communication, including emails, teleconferencing, and social media communication platforms. Emails allow organizations to cheaply and conveniently communicate with their partners, suppliers, and clients. They also allow individuals to send hundreds of documents quickly. Therefore, they are time and cost-saving because unlike physical forms of communication, emails do not require the printing of corporate information and sending it to various

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stakeholders. The internet also supports modern communication technologies such as teleconferencing. Through video conferencing, an organization’s employees from different parts of the world can hold real-time meetings. Thus, it saves time and costs associated with business travel. Therefore, the internet is an essential communication tool in modern businesses. Internet communication is also useful in society. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and other relatively new ways of communication such as Whatsapp have substituted traditional forms of communication such as sending letters. Such internet-supported ways are not only fast but also cheap and allow people to send a wide range of data formats, including pictures and documents. Resultantly, millions of people across the world use instant messaging applications. The internet is, therefore, an essential communication tool in contemporary society. The internet is also vital in business promotion and advertising. Traditional businesses depended on mass media such as television, radio, newspapers, and magazines to reach out to their customers and promote their brands. However, the internet has introduced new forms of advertising (Todorova 2015, 372). Modern organizations promote their brands in social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and on websites. YouTube ad sense is also common. These means of brand promotion and product advertising help organizations to reach out to their customers from all over the globe. Globalization has encouraged and enabled organizations to carry out international trade. Therefore, international businesses need to use internet-supported means of advertising to reach out to their customers from all parts of the world. Modern businesses also use tools such as Google Analytics to obtain essential customer data to help them develop strategies to create competitive advantage.

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Modern companies also use the internet to sell their products and services. Companies such as Alibaba.com and eBay provide an online platform where people from all over the world can sell and buy products at the comfort of their homes. Besides, hundred thousands of organizations across the world have online sales system where their customers can buy their products. Therefore, modern society is increasingly embracing online shopping. This is because online shopping is convenient as it enables customers to not only compare prices but also to shop at anytime from anywhere. Companies also use the internet in public relations (Todorova 2015, 372). Through sending regular emails to their clients and connecting with them through social networking sites, companies maintain continuous interaction with their customers (Todorova 2015, 372). Businesses post information and news to their existing and potential customers on sites such as Facebook to ensure that they are informed about the companies’ activities (Todorova 2015, 374). Thus, internet communication enables companies to timely create awareness about their new products and services to their customers and other members of the public, and also convince them to buy them. Internet communication also allows organizations to obtain essential feedback regarding their products and services (Todorova 2015, 374). Some companies also use the internet not only to post job openings but also to recruit employees. Since global companies have employees in different regions of the world, some use internet communication to hire their employees. The society also uses the internet to look for job positions through sites such as CareerBuilder and Monster. Negative internet use Despite its benefits, the use of internet in businesses and society comes with various drawbacks as well. For instance, e-commerce exposes businesses and individuals to credit card

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fraud and other related crimes (DeFilippi & Michael 2017, 263-264). Cybercriminals can hack online banking systems or intercept bank and credit card details and illegally transfer money from individuals and organizations (DeFilippi & Michael 2017, 264). Some individuals also use the internet to spread computer viruses for spurious purposes. This can significantly hurt business and individuals. The use of the internet also exposes people to inappropriate materials such as pornography (Babchishin, Hanson & VanZuylen 2015, 47). Children from across the globe quickly access pornographic materials from the internet. The access of such materials erodes peoples’ culture and behaviours (Babchishin et al. 2015, 57). The internet also allows people to download copyrighted material such as music illegally. This may negatively impact the music business, making it unprofitable. The use of the internet may also result in social media and internet addiction (Shek, Yu & Sun 2016 1). Internet addiction results in loneliness. Individuals with social media addiction are more likely to compare their lives to those of other users on the site, which may make them generate low self-esteem (Shek et al. 2016, 13). Internet addiction also secludes one from the actual society and exposes them to cyberbullying (Shek et al. 2016, 20). These effects hurt peoples’ physical and psychological wellbeing. Thus, although the internet is instrumental in business, it comes with various disadvantages to businesses and society. Threats faced by organisations and society when using internet In modern internet-powered society, the dangers of cyber threats are continually increasing. Unlike traditional companies, modern companies store their records and customer information in the cloud. Consequently, cybercriminals are coming up with ways to infiltrate company records (DeFilippi & Michael 2017, 264). Some of the threats that business

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organizations face when using the internet include phishing attacks, ransomware attacks, targeted attacks, breach of sensitive data, among others. Unauthorized access is a major cyber threat across the world. It entails the use of sophisticated technology by cybercriminals to break into computers with malicious intent (Jaishankar 2011, 32). This includes spoofing, sniffing, and denial of service attacks. Through such attacks, crackers and hackers, may thus, access sensitive and confidential information that they may use to blackmail others for financial gain. Cybercriminals may target people like politicians, access their sensitive information through such attacks, and threaten to expose it to the public if specific conditions are not met (Jaishankar 2011, 119). Thus, unauthorized access is a threat to businesses and other individuals in society. Computer viruses are also common security risks in organizations’ computerized information systems (Jaishankar 2011, 285). They usually result in crashes and data loss (Jaishankar 2011, 285). Such data loss may significantly hurt the financial wellness of a business. Organizations using the internet to carry out business may also be at risk of theft, vandalism, and sabotage. Theft describes the loss of data, software, or hardware that may considerably affect the operations and effectiveness of an organization (Jaishankar 2011, 210). Unlike theft, sabotage occurs when an individual damages an organization’s information systems either accidentally or on purpose (Ross 2009, 35). An organization’s employee may have adequate information about its information systems and may use such knowhow to cause interruptions to its effectiveness and functions. For instance, an employee may sabotage a company’s information system by deleting essential software, deleting or changing data, and planting a virus. Unlike theft and sabotage, vandalism is the purposeful damage of data,

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software, and hardware aimed at weakening the security of the information system (Ross 2009, 35). The use of the internet may also result in the loss of societal values. As discussed earlier, the internet exposes children to inappropriate content such as pornography (DeFilippi & Michael 2017, 264). The internet exposes young people to vulgar language. Furthermore, some people are addicted to online games, and others spend too much time on the internet. This hurts their social and communication skills. These changes may considerably erode the ways of the people. Security and privacy measures to take to curb internet threats Information is power. The access to critical or sensitive company or individual information is what gives cybercriminals the power to carry out cybercrimes (DeFilippi & Michael 2017, 263). Likewise, access to the right information is what can give businesses and individuals the power to protect themselves in the growing industry of cybercrime. The use of a firewall can help to prevent cyber threats (Dell 2019, 1). A firewall describes a security system network that not only monitors but also controls outgoing and incoming traffic. It locks intruders out of a computer or network by creating a barrier between the untrusted external network and an individual’s computer or internal network (Dell 2019, 1). Security software and wireless routers have firewalls that individuals can activate to prevent intrusion (Dell 2019, 1). Individuals and businesses can also curb cyber threats by using comprehensive security software (Dell 2019, 2). Cybercriminals use various ways and sophisticated technology to access information systems. It is, therefore, essential for business and individuals to use comprehensive security software such as Kaspersky and McAffee Security Center to keep out intruders (Dell 2019, 2). Such software protects networks and computers from phishing, spyware, malware, and

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other threats. It is also essential to keep the operating system and the security software updated (Dell 2019, 2). For instance, Microsoft Windows users can enable automatic updates to ensure that their operating system is safe. Google Chrome users can also allow automatic updates to ensure that the browser has the latest security patches. The use of strong passwords is also a security and privacy measure that individuals and businesses use to curb cyber threats (Dell 2019, 2). The use of simple passwords that are simple to remember, such as those referencing to birthdays, makes it easy for hackers to figure passwords out and access sensitive and confidential data illegally (Dell 2019, 2). Thus, individuals should use long passwords with not less than eight characters, and consisting a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, special characters, and numbers (Dell 2019, 2). It is also vital to change passwords regularly to reduce the likelihood of comprising. Education is also vital. It is essential to educate individuals and businesses about the various types of internet scams and how to avoid them (Dell 2019, 1). For instance, educating people about phishing will help them to avoid hackers who may try to lure them into revealing their personal information (Dell 2019, 1). Other privacy and security measures that businesses and individuals can take to curb internet threats include practicing safe surfing and safe shopping and securing wireless networks (Dell 2019, 1). Unified communication providers Unified communications describe a framework integrating real-time and asynchronous communication tools to improve business communication (Silic & Back 2016, 22). It enables users to interact more intuitively and collaboratively (Silic & Back 2016, 22). Microsoft and Cisco are examples of unified communications providers. These providers have various similarities and differences.

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Both Cisco and Microsoft offer similar services. Both companies offer basic telephony to provide voice functionality and allow voice control features such as making, transferring, and holding calls (Malik 2016, Para 12, 22). Also, both provide instant messaging and presence services that support making voice and video calls as well as video conferencing. Both services also offer web conferencing services using their instant messaging services (Malik 2016, Para 14, 26). Both providers also offer client software and devices. Cisco provides products such as voice over IP phones and WebEx for desktops. Despite the similarities, there are differences between the two. For instance, while Microsoft uses ‘Skype for business’ as its instant messaging tool, Cisco uses Jabber (Malik 2016, Para 12, 22). Unlike Jabber, Skype for Business integrates active directory that enables individuals to search for a company’s resources (Malik 2016, Para 24). Thus, Microsoft unified communication is more suitable for business communication than Cisco unified communication. Additionally, Microsoft is software-based while Cisco is hardware and network-based. Conclusion The internet is beneficial in modern society and businesses. Internet-powered communication, such as emails, WhatsApp, and social media communication is prevalent in businesses and society. The internet is also used in promotion and advertising, e-commerce, and building and maintaining public relations. However, the use of the internet has its demerits as well. It results in internet addiction, encourages access to inappropriate content such as pornography, and exposes businesses and people to cybercrimes. Due to the various cyber threats that businesses are exposed to, they should take various measures to curb them. Such measures include the use of strong passwords, comprehensive security software, and a firewall.

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Bibliography Babchishin, K.M., Hanson, R.K. and VanZuylen, H., 2015. Online child pornography offenders are different: A meta-analysis of the characteristics of online and offline sex offenders against children. Archives of sexual behavior, 44(1), pp.45-66. DeFilippi, D. and Michael, K., 2017. Credit card fraud: behind the scenes. In Online Banking Security Measures and Data Protection (pp. 263-282). IGI Global. Dell. (2019). Top 10 Steps to Help Stop Cybercrime (pp. 1-3). Retrieved from https://www.dell.com/downloads/ca/support/top_10_steps_to_protect_against_cybercrim e_dell_en.pdf Fleisch, E., Weinberger, M. and Wortmann, F., 2015. Business models and the internet of things. In Interoperability and Open-Source Solutions for the Internet of Things (pp. 6-10). Springer, Cham. Jaishankar, K. ed., 2011. Cyber criminology: exploring internet crimes and criminal behaviour. CRC Press. Luna, R., Rhine, E., Myhra, M., Sullivan, R. and Kruse, C.S., 2016. Cyber threats to health information systems: A systematic review. Technology and Health Care, 24(1), pp.1-9. Malik, T. (2016). Unified Communications - Comparing Cisco and Microsoft Solutions. Cybersecurity and Risk Management Ross, J. (2009). Cybercrime. New York, N.Y: Chelsea House.

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Silic, M. and Back, A., 2016. Factors driving unified communications and collaboration adoption and use in organizations. Measuring Business Excellence, 20(1), pp.21-40. Shek, D.T., Yu, L. and Sun, R.C., 2016. Internet addiction. Neuroscience in the 21st century, pp.1-44. Todorova, G., 2015. Marketing communication mix. Trakia Journal of sciences, 13(1), pp.368374....