Internet transaction security could be viewed as a high-tech “chicken or the egg” dilemma.

Or, in this case, what comes first?

Companies are slow to warm to doing more B2B transactions over the Net, mainly due to security concerns. But it’s nearly impossible to resolve security concerns and put business minds at ease unless there’s enough transaction traffic driving the effort and establishing a reliable track record.

Raising the stakes and complicating this dilemma:

The whole situation plays out against the background of the Internet, where the legit businesses and enterprising hackers constantly jockey for the superior position.

It’s enough to make you long for the good old days, when cash was king and credit was paid off regularly.

Well, maybe not long for those days. But it certainly is much more complicated today, as the advantages of doing business over the Internet are balanced by new perils.

Basically, there are three types of losses a business faces when it begins transactions online:

• property loss or damage
• business interruption, and
• extra costs.

As cybercrime becomes increasingly lucrative, a worldwide black market for information has developed.

The attacks are growing more sophisticated as well, as cyberthugs try to sneak in your back door through your vendors and other businesses with access to your system.

It used to be that staying up to date on your browser’s security parameters and employing a commercial security service was enough to keep you protected.

It’s still important to stay on top of your browser’s security updates, but as the attacks have become more sophisticated, the defenses must keep pace.

Some of the recent counterattack suggestions include:

• Segmenting your company’s data into clearly defined zones, so certain breaches can be isolated and limited
• Training your people who are involved in areas where data theft is a distinct possibility. Less than 15% of breaches are detected by “insiders.”
• Acquiring “memory snapshots” to use in forensic investigations of cybercrime, and
• Limit how much information — and influence — can be accessed through “smartphones” or other devices that can easily end up in the wrong hands.

Tags: B2B, data theft, transaction, transaction security