The application of 3rd party certification programme in Malaysia

-WEBTRUST SERVICES-
Security With WebTrust, an enterprises can ensure that access to its electronic commerce system and data is restricted only to authorized individuals in conformity with its disclosed security policies.

The WebTrust Program's Security standards provide a comprehensive solution for e-businesses by independently verifying a web site's compliance with online security best practices.

Information that is provided to another party is susceptible to unauthorized access during transmission over the Internet and while it is stored on the other party's computer systems.

The WebTrust Security Principle sets out an overall objective for the security of data transmitted over the Internet and stored on an e-commerce system


MSC Trustgate.com Sdn Bhd was established in 1999 as a licensed Certification Authority (CA) operating out of the Multimedia Super Corridor in Malaysia under the Digital Signature Act 1997(DSA). MSC Trust gate was provide security solutions and trusted services to help companies build a secure network and application infrastructure for their electronic transactions and communications over the network.

Their commitment in delivering high quality services has brought us recognitions with the enterprises, government, and many leading e-commerce sites, and service providers' digital certification services, including digital certificates, cryptographic products, and software development both locally and internationally.

MSC Trust gate was state-of-the-art data center located in Cyberjaya is one of the most advanced in ASEAN and conforms to IT security standard, Orange Book Tier 4. All of the consultants undergo a stringent certification process and continuous training programs and are well experienced in deploying large-scale projects. In present, MSC Trust gate has 12 million in paid up capital.


Among the projects they have implemented are:
@-E-banking Security Deployment and E-procurement Integration
@-User Authentication and Customer Clearance Approval System
@-Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to assist all type of companies and institution conducting their business over the internet. The state of the art back-end infrastructure that costs RM14 million is probably one of the best in the region.


-Secure Transaction with Digital ID-

To ensure the confidential information remains private in transit, need to use Digital ID to sign and encrypt the transactions.

Digital ID from MSC Trustgate.com is governed by the Digital Signature Act 1997. Without a legitimate Digital ID in your electronic transaction, your contract is not admissible in court in the case of dispute.

Product Keywords : security, transaction, digital id

-MyKad PKI (MyKey)-

Malaysian government has put in place a smart National Identity Card (“MyKad”) for every citizen. MyKad with PKI capability allows its holder to conduct online transaction with government agencies and private sectors.

MyKey, is the MyKad PKI solution that works with your physically MyKad, allowing you to authenticate yourself online and to digitally sign documents or transactions and is accepted by the Malaysian government.

MSC Trust gate are the prime PKI developer and integrator for Mikado and offer various MyKad PKI modules for developer who wishes to develop MyKad applications.

MyKey modules
- MyKey Application Programming Interface (API)
- Signing module
- Verification module
- MyKad Client Kit

Product Keywords : national, identity, card

-SSL Virtual Private Network (SSL VPN)-

SSL (pronounced as separate letters) Short for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol originally developed by Netscape in 1996 as a way of ensuring the security of e-commerce transactions, which was for transmitting private documents securely via the Internet(World Wide Web) is Secure HTTP (S-HTTP).

Whereas SSL creates a secure connection between a client and a server, over which any amount of data can be sent securely, S-HTTP is designed to transmit individual messages securely. SSL uses a cryptographic system that uses two keys to encrypt data − a public key known to everyone and a private or secret key known only to the recipient of the message.


Both Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer support SSL, and many Web sites use the protocol to obtain confidential user information, such as credit card numbers .By convention, URLs that require an SSL connection start with https:

instead of http: SSL and S-HTTP, therefore, can be seen as complementary rather than competing technologies. Both protocols have been approved by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as a standard.SSL has become a low-cost alternative to IPSec-based virtual private networks.

-Global Server ID (128-bit) -

Global Server ID adopts today's strongest encryption commercially available for secure communications. Powered by 128-bit SSL encryption technology, the GSID authenticates your web sites and enables secure communications and transactions between the site and its visitors.

Every purchase of GSID comes with a VeriSign Secured Seal that you can display on your web site. The seal is an instant proof that your web site is genuine because you have been verified by the Certification Authority, and your customers can conduct business with you free of worry.


Product Keywords : global, server, id

An example of an e-commerce success and its causes

Amazon.com, Inc. is an American e-commerce company. Its global headquarters is located in Seattle, Washington.
Amazon has used the internet to create a truly global business platform, one which is poised for incredible growth in the coming decade. The question in many investors' minds these days is how profitable that business can be. Sales have surged in the last year at the world's largest e-commerce company, growing 39% from a combination of low prices, shipping promotions, and rollouts of new product categories. For e-commerce usability, Amazon.com used to be the model. In 2001, we evaluated the usability of twenty e-commerce sites and Amazon was the clear winner, scoring 65% higher than the average of the other nineteen sites. Having the Web's best usability served Amazon well: sales increased by 126% from 2001 to 2004.

While most people naturally think of Amazon as the internet superstore that sells products in over forty categories, from books to electronics to groceries to jewelry to auto parts, the company has gradually expanded beyond that simple business platform; today Amazon is simultaneously an ecommerce and internet technology platform, a fulfillment and logistics platform, a search technology, an internet advertising platform, and even an internet startup incubator of sorts.

Founded in 1995 by Jeff Bezos as an online bookstore, Amazon has since greatly expanded its business. Today, Amazon’s stated mission is to be a place where “people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.” Its key pillars of lowering price, offering convenience, expanding selection, and increasing availability are interrelated in what the company calls a virtuous cycle, and together make up the foundation of the fabulous growth that has taken Amazon from a bookstore started in a garage to a $14B retail machine. Amazon’s direct-to-consumer online model allows it to keep its inventory in a small number of strategically located large warehouses, letting the company offer a vast selection of goods and without the capital investment and inventory risk that traditional brick and mortar retailers face.

In addition, due to sophisticated inventory forecasting, fast inventory turns, and overall operational efficiency, Amazon has managed to build a retail business with a negative operating cashflow cycle, which means Amazon gets paid for products by customers before they have to pay their suppliers for the goods. Working capital has effectively become a source of investment cash for the company.

What's Still Good About Amazon
Confirmation email. Except when they're part of a co-branded sale, Amazon's use of confirmation emails keeps users in the loop and increases their trust in the overall fulfillment process.

Fulfillment. When you buy something, you get it. In the rare case that there is a problem, you get a clear email telling you so. Of course, that's the way e-commerce should be, but all too often it's not when you shop on other sites. Amazon's success with fulfillment clearly proves that the total user experience goes beyond the user interface.

Login screen. Amazon's sign-in screen remains a model to be emulated, minimizing the common problem of new customers who try to log in without having registered. Amazon presents two questions in linear order: (1) "What is your email address?" and (2) "Do you have an Amazon.com password?" For the second question, users can select one of two radio buttons: "No, I am a new customer," or "Yes, I have a password." Many other sites present the new- and established-user sections side-by-side, and thereby divert new users to the established-user section through the magnetic attraction of type-in fields.

Relevant cross-sales. "Customers who bought this book also bought" continues to be a stellar approach to cross-selling. It almost always drags up other relevant products that the customer is likely to want.

Sample content. One of the biggest challenges in e-commerce is alleviating people's fear of getting either the wrong product or a low-quality one. Online sales have a huge handicap here, because shoppers can't touch the merchandise. To minimize this problem, get users as close to your products as possible in a virtual world. Give them the specifics they need in a language they understand and show them meaningful pictures. Amazon does this well, especially in using sample content, such as book excerpts and music snippets.

Comprehensive product selection. Amazon lays claim to "earth's biggest selection" and for once, a company actually lives up to its slogan. We've known since 1997 that users want comprehensive services on the Web, and Amazon fulfills that need, especially within their original focus of books. If it's published, they carry it. Even better, they don't remove a book from the site once it goes out of print; instead, they offer a marketplace for buying and selling used copies. The product page retains the same URL, even when the product status changes, thus avoiding the linkrot that plagues so many other retailers.

History and Evolution of E-Commerce

History of E-Commerce
The history of E-Commerce is a history of how Information Technology has transformed business processes. It provides with a detailed explanation of the different important phases and stages through which Electronic Commerce has actually evolved. History of E-Commerce also provides with important details about how Electronic Commerce began to be used as a popular online mean of economic exchange. Electronic Commerce refers to the online transaction of goods.

Evolution of E-Commerce
The development of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) provided with a set of standards that enabled the big business firms to indulge in a sort of beneficial electronic transaction. It also facilitated the interchange of vital business oriented information.

In the 1960’s, businesses realized that many of the documents they exchange related to the shipping of goods - such as invoices, purchase orders, and bills of lading - and included the same set of information for almost every transaction.

For decades, banks have been using Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT), which are electronic transmissions of account exchange information over private communication networks.

In 1980’s, the introduction of ATM card was the latest improvement to electronic commerce. Beside that, the growth and acceptance of credit card, Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and telephone banking also is a form of electronic commerce.

In 1994’s, the Internet begin to advance in popularity among the general public. The security protocols for example HTTP to become sufficiently developed and widely developed.

E-Commerce was birth out of the World-Wide-Web (WWW). The aspect of the WWW actually is a relatively new aspect of the Internet. While the Internet was developed in the late 1960’s, the WWW came into existence more than a decade ago - in the early 1990’s. Since then, however, it has grown phenomenally to become the most widely used service on the Internet.

The Revenue MOdel for Google, Amazon, and eBay

Google's revenue model
There are several ways that Google generate profit. The most common revenue model for Google to generate profit are sales, transaction fees, subscription fees, advertising fees, and affiliate fees.

Google generate most of the revenue from advertising solutions and global Internet search solutions and the principal products and services are:

Google AdWords
Google AdWords is a pay per click advertising program. It is designed to allow the advertisers to present advertisements to people who are looking for information related to what the advertiser has to offer.

A user may ads for relevant words by seaching in Google's search engine which are shown as "sponsored link" on the right side of the screen or above the main search results.

Most of the revenue of Google are generate from Google AdWords. In year 2005, Google launched the Google Publication Ads Program through which they distribute their advertisers’ ads for publication in magazines. Revenue derived as the fees charged advertisers when their ads are published in magazines and when those ads are clicked by visitors.

An advertiser will be paid every time as his ad receives a click by the pay per click advertising model.The advertisers decide the keywords relevant to their offer that should display their ad and the maximum amount they are willing to pay per click for that keyword.



Google also have another revenue model which also an advertising form call Google Answer.

Google Answers
Google Answers is an Internet search and research service offered for a fee by Google.

It was launched by Google in April 2002 to enable the users pay someone else to performing the search by asking questions, offer a price for an answer, and researchers answer them.

However, the researchers are not Google employees.

Prices for questions range from $2 to $200; After a question is answered, Google keeps 25% of the payment, sends the rest to the Researchers.


Amazon's revenue model

Amazon.com is an American electronic commerce (e-commerce) company the first major companies to sell goods by Internet.

Amazon.com started as an on-line bookstore, but soon diversified to product lines of VHS, DVD, music CDs, MP3 format, computer software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys, etc.

Amazon.com generate revenue from commissions from suppliers when there is a sale of product. In thier main websites, there are few advertisement displays in the page where users browsing through some items.


eBay's revenue model

eBay Inc. is an American Internet company that manages eBay.com. It is an online auction and shopping Web site where people and businesses buy and sell goods and services worldwide.

In addition to its original U.S. Web site, eBay has established localized Web sites in thirty other countries.

eBay Inc also owns PayPal, Skype, StubHub, and other businesses which generated around $6 billion revenue from the transaction fee.

eBay does not have inventory like Amazon.com. It only provides technology platforms and tools for e-commerce.

Besides, eBay also gains sales from the service of listing customer’s product to be sold to other users and advertisement fee.

The following are the article related to the above topics:

An example of an E-Commerce failure and its causes

The attempt of Levi's, one of the world's most recognisable and well-financed brands, to develop a Web retail presence ended in failure last month. So what is the key that unlocks the secret of a successful ecommerce strategy? At the
end of last month, jeans manufacturer, Levi's, announced it was ending a year-long 'trial' of selling its clothes online.

The heat is on: Levi's faces its third year of declining sales this year and is expected to suffer its first net loss in more than a decade.


Like most of its attempts to sell clothes through its own brick-and-mortar stores, Levi's e-commerce effort was not implemented effectively. Sales at http://www.levi.com/ and http://www.dockers.com/ have been dismal and costs have been extremely high, industry sources said.

The jeans giant claimed that "the cost of running a truly world class ecommerce business was unaffordable". From a company that turns over $6bn, this sounds a bit rich. So what is going on here? Is ecommerce really too pricey? Selling over the Web is supposed to reduce costs - that's one of its major attractions. It cuts out the middleman. It dispenses with the expense of having to set up a nationwide or worldwide chain of retail outlets.

Amazon.com has a physical presence in three countries but it claims to have customers in 160. Setting up a chain of physical retail outlets with access to customers in 160 countries in the time it's taken Amazon to achieve this online is quite well-nigh impossible. In these terms, ecommerce is clearly not just cheaper, but gives businesses access to markets which were previously out of reach.

• Fails to Understand Customer Needs
• Fails to Research Competitors
• Fails to Design a Usable Site
• Fails to Design an Attractive Site
• Fails to Provide Customer Service






Fails to Understand Customer Needs
-To knowing the target market and need to know equally as much about the customers’ needs. Understanding customers needs can be important if hope to develop and improve the products or site to cater more towards a specific group or demographic of customers. Researching consumer markets and knowing about the target can be the difference between eCommerce success and failure.

Fails to Research Competitors
- Knowing as much about the competitors as possible will help to understand what will need to overcome in order to remain in a certain market and sell competitively. Learn about their marketing initiatives, who they target, what makes them successful and anything else that can use to learn from their time selling Online. Knowing about competitors can be the difference between eCommerce success and failure.

Fails to Design a Usable Site
- Try to consider as many eCommerce design and usability best practices as possible. Create a site that is simply laid out, easy to use and easy to navigate. Display the items that customers want in the places they expect to see them and make it easy for them to buy from there. If customers cannot use the site, or if the design a site that is difficult to navigate, it may be the difference between eCommerce success and failure.

Fails to Design an Attractive Site
- Once the site is usable, you’ll want to include aesthetically pleasing graphics and other design elements that make the site pleasing to look at and attractive to the customers you target. Use vibrant colors and branding elements within your design, keep up on new graphic design trends like gradients and reflections often found on Web 2.0 site designs. Not building an attractive site that looks pleasing to your customers can be the difference between eCommerce success and failure.

Fails to Provide Customer Service
- Many merchants succeed at launching their retail business but end up shooting themselves in the foot later by not providing adequate customer service. Some merchants do not plan the time required to deal with customer issues brought up during the Online buying and fulfillment processes. Leaving phone calls unanswered for days, not responding to emails and keeping customers out of the sales or shipping loop can be devastating to any Online business. Be sure to provide quality customer service from the very moment your store launches, it could be the difference between eCommerce success and failure.