COMPONENT CHAPTER B



Internet Basics: Communicating in the Online World

The Internet and the many communication functions it provides, including e-mail and the World Wide Web, play a central role in business today. No matter which career path you chose, as a business communicator you will almost certainly be expected to have a minimum level of proficiency with online communication tools. You may be familiar with many of these already, but just in case you haven't had the opportunity to explore the online world yet, the links below provide a quick introduction to the Internet, the business communication capabilities it provides, and the question of online safety and security.

|What Exactly Is the Internet? |How Do Businesses Use the Internet? |Is the Internet Safe? |

|How computers—and people—get connected online |Business benefits of online communication |Online privacy |

|How information is presented online |Basic online communication functions |Data security |

| |E-commerce |Sabotage and cyberterrorism |

[1] How computers—and people—get connected online

The Internet is the world’s largest computer network. Started in 1969 by the U.S. Department of Defense, the Internet is a voluntary, cooperative undertaking; no one individual, organization, or government owns it. The Internet is accessible to individuals, companies, colleges, government agencies, and other institutions in countries all over the world. It links thousands of smaller computer networks and millions of individual computer users in homes, businesses, government offices, and schools worldwide. You can learn more about the Internet by taking the tour at lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html or .

You can access the Internet in a variety of ways. As a student, you might have access to your school’s local network, which is in turn connected to the global Internet. If you don’t have such network access, you can connect via a phone line, cable TV, a satellite link, or a wireless hot spot, depending on what’s available in your area and how much you want to spend. Dial-up access, in which you connect your computer to a phone line via a modem to reach an Internet service provider (ISP)—a company that provides access to the Internet—is usually the slowest means of access. However, it’s also the cheapest in most cases and available wherever you can find a phone. Both cable TV systems that offer Internet service and digital subscriber line (DSL) service offer faster access but aren’t available in all areas. Both offer what is commonly known as broadband access, a somewhat vague term that usually means anything faster than dial-up. Satellite access offers a broadband alternative for people who can’t get cable or DSL service, although it tends to be more expensive.

Wireless access, often called “WiFi” for short, is available in an increasing number of public places and private networks. For instance, many Starbucks and McDonald’s locations now offer wireless access for a modest fee, and some cities provide wireless access for free. You need a wireless card in your laptop PC to use these wireless “hot spots.” In addition to these options, a number of handheld computers, mobile phones, watches, and other devices are now equipped with some form of Internet access as well.

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Next: How Information Is Presented Online

[2] How Information Is Presented Online

The most widely used capability of the Internet is the World Wide Web (WWW), more commonly known as simply the web. In operation since 1990, the web lets you search for, display, and save a wide range of resources, from simple text pages to advanced multimedia pages that combine graphics, text, audio, and video files. This information is typically stored on a series of webpages, which are related files containing multimedia data that are made available on a website. (This group of webpages you are now reading is part of the overall Prentice Hall website, for example.) The software you are use to view webpages is called a browser; Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is the most common, but you can chose from several others.

The homepage of a website is the primary screen that you first access when visiting a site. Furthermore, each page in a website is identified by a unique address known as a uniform resource locator (URL). Take , for example. The address begins with http, which is the abbreviation for hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), the communications protocol that allows you to navigate the web (a protocol is simply a set of electronic rules that computers follow). The address continues with www, indicating that the site is located on the World Wide Web. The next part of the address is the registered domain name (in this case ), a name unique to that site. The abbreviation following the period (com in Yahoo’s case) is the top-level domain (TLD).

The original seven TLDs identified commercial enterprises (com), educational institutions (edu), government agencies (gov), international sources (int), the military (mil), network resources (net), and nonprofit organizations (org). To keep up with demand, additional TLDs such as pro, biz, info, coop, museum, and name have been introduced. Websites based in other countries often include a two-letter country designator, such as .uk (United Kingdom) or .jp (Japan), along with .co for commercial enterprises or .ac for academic institutions. For instance, the URL of ’s United Kingdom web presence is amazon.co.uk, and the website for University College London is ucl.ac.uk.

The basic language of the web is hypertext markup language (HTML), which defines how text and graphics are displayed on your screen. (You don’t need to worry about learning HTML unless you want to build your own websites, and even then you can build simple sites without knowing any HTML.) The most powerful element of HTML is the hyperlink or hotlink, which lets you click on specified text or graphic elements to jump to another webpage (or to download a file, launch another program, and so on).

Once you get to your new destination, you can bookmark the site by using a browser feature that stores the site’s URL on your computer for future use. Then, whenever you are online and you click on a bookmark, you automatically go to that site’s address. Another handy browser feature is the ability to navigate your trail backward or forward at any time by using the back and forward buttons on your browser software.

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Next: Business Benefits of Online Communication

[3] Business Benefits of Online Communication

The Internet's global reach and 24-hour access help companies build products, run operations, and deliver services better, faster, and cheaper. In fact, the Internet has penetrated virtually every corner of the workplace. It’s changing the way customers, suppliers, companies, and other stakeholders interact. Just as important, it’s changing the way companies operate internally by allowing speedy, convenient exchanges of ideas and information—anytime, anywhere, across thousands of miles or across the street. Companies are using the Internet to

• Share text, photos, slides, videos, and other data within the organization

• Permit employees to telecommute, or work away from a conventional office, whether at home, on the road, or across the country

• Recruit employees cost-effectively

• Locate information from external sources

• Find new business partners and attract new customers

• Locate and buy parts and materials from domestic and international suppliers

• Promote and sell goods and services to customers in any location

• Provide customers with service, technical support, and product information

• Collaborate with local, national, and international business partners

• Inform investors, industry analysts, and government regulators about business developments

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Next: Basic Online Communication Functions

[4] Basic online communication functions

The Internet offers businesses a wide variety of choices for online communication, in addition to webpages. These are among the most popular functions:

• E-mail. Electronic mail (e-mail) lets people create, send, and read written messages entirely on computer, as Chapter 2 in your text points out. E-mail messages can range from simple, unformatted text messages to complex multimedia documents. Most e-mail systems also let you attach files, such as word processing documents, which is a convenient way to share information and collaborate on projects.

• Instant messaging. Many companies encourage the use of instant messaging (IM) for work purposes, as Chapter 2 explains. IM has become so popular that some experts predict it will soon eclipse e-mail as the most popular form of online communication.

• Intranets and extranets. In addition to creating webpages to communicate with their customers and other public audiences, many companies now create intranets as well, which are private websites designed for the internal use of employees. Intranets can contain everything from project status reports to job openings to employee services such as health insurance. An extranet is a similar type of private website that also offers access to suppliers, registered customers, and other selected external audiences.

• Internet telephony. Internet users can converse vocally over the Internet using Internet telephony, also known as VoIP (short for Voice over Internet Protocol). Internet telephony promises lower costs and expanded service options, but technical and regulatory hurdles have slowed its advance. However, many experts predict that Internet telephony will become widely adopted once these issues are ironed out.[i]

• File transfers. File transfer protocol (FTP) is an Internet capability that lets you download files or transfer data from a server to your computer and upload files or transfer data from your computer to another system.[ii] FTP also allows you to attach formatted documents to your e-mail messages and download formatted files.[iii] Sometimes users compress (often called zipping) large files—such as graphics files—to make them easier and faster to transfer. If you receive a compressed file, you must use special software to decompress (or unzip) it before you can read it. The Internet also makes peer-to-peer file sharing possible. Using the Internet and software, people can exchange files directly (from user to user) without going through a central server.

• Discussion mailing lists. Discussion mailing lists are discussion groups to which you subscribe by sending a message to the list’s e-mail address. From then on, copies of all messages posted by any other subscriber are sent to you via e-mail. It’s like subscribing to an electronic newsletter to which everyone can contribute. (The term listserv is often used incorrectly to describe the mailing list server that collects and retransmits all this e-mail; however, Listserv is actually the name of a commercial software product.[iv])

• Newsgroups. Consisting of posted messages and responses on a particular subject, Usenet newsgroups differ from discussion mailing lists in two ways. First, messages are posted at the newsgroup site, which you access by using a news reader program. Second, messages posted to a newsgroup can be viewed by anyone. You can think of a newsgroup as a place you visit to read posted messages, whereas a discussion mailing list delivers posted messages to you.

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Next: E-Commerce

[5] E-Commerce

In addition to using the Internet for communication, businesses are using it to conduct electronic commerce (e-commerce), the buying and selling of goods and services over the Internet.

• Types of e-commerce

• Why companies engage in e-commerce

• Consumer benefits of e-commerce

[5a] Types of E-Commerce

E-commerce is classified into four broad categories:

• Business-to-consumer e-commerce. Referred to as B2C, e-tailing, or electronic retailing, this form of e-commerce involves interactions and transactions between a company and consumers. Typical business-to-consumer transactions include such functions as sales, marketing (promotions, advertising, coupons, online catalogs, and so on), order processing and tracking, credit authorization, customer service, and electronic payments.

• Business-to-business e-commerce. Known as B2B, this form of e-commerce uses the Internet to conduct transactions between businesses. B2B typically involves a company and its suppliers, distributors, manufacturers, and retailers but not consumers. Virtually every kind of business product imaginable is sold online today, from high-technology parts to advertising services.

• Consumer-to-consumer e-commerce. This category of e-commerce (C2C) involves consumers who sell products directly to each other using the Internet as the intermediary. The best-known of these intermediaries is eBay (). Sellers list their products with the auction site and buyers bid on listed sellers’ products. Once a bid is accepted, the seller ships the product directly to the buyer.

• Mobile commerce (m-commerce). This category of e-commerce uses wireless Internet access and wireless handheld devices, such as cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), to transact business. M-commerce is becoming increasingly popular in Europe and Asia, and it should become more popular in the United States once the required technology is in place.

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Next: Why Companies Engage in E-Commerce

[5b] Why Companies Engage in E-Commerce

Companies engage in e-commerce for a wide variety of reasons: to improve their images, improve customer service, simplify processes, save time, increase productivity, eliminate paper transactions, expedite access to information, reduce transportation costs, find new benefits, increase flexibility, locate new customers, and reduce operating costs.[v] For instance, companies can reduce the costs of publishing, processing, distributing, storing, and retrieving information by engaging in electronic commerce. Moreover, processing customer orders electronically can be done at a fraction of the cost of using traditional paper-based and labor-intensive processes.

Many companies also engage in e-commerce to generate new revenue streams by (1) creating new online markets for existing products, (2) creating new products specifically designed for online markets, and (3) expanding existing or new products into international markets.[vi]

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Next: How Customers Benefit from E-commerce

[5c] How Customers Benefit from E-commerce

Customers stand to gain as much if not more from e-commerce than companies do. Electronic commerce[vii]

• Enables customers to shop or conduct other transactions 24 hours a day, every day, from almost any location

• Provides customers with more choices; they can select from many vendors and from more products and price levels

• Allows for quick delivery of digital products and information, such as software and e-books

• Allows customers to interact with other customers and exchange ideas as well as compare experiences

• Facilitates competition—which can keep prices down

With a few clicks of the mouse, for example, travelers can plan and price trips, purchase tickets, receive travel confirmations, review current reservations, and review the status of their mileage rewards accounts. In short, today’s customers can make buying decisions as if they had an army of intelligent helpers running to all the stores around the world to find the best products and prices. This ability is putting customers in a position of unprecedented control.

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Next: Online Privacy

[6] Online Privacy

Online information privacy is a hot issue in today’s connected workplace. Employers must find the right balance between respecting employees’ privacy rights and protecting both valuable company information and other employees. For instance, many employees erroneously believe that their e-mail and voice mail messages are private, and they’re surprised when e-mail ends up in places they did not intend it to go. But employers have the legal right to monitor everything from employees’ web access to the content of their company e-mail or voice mail messages. Moreover, both e-mail and voice mail can be used as evidence in court cases. Therefore, a good rule of thumb is not to say anything in e-mail or voice mail that you would not want to see published in a newspaper.

According to an American Management Association survey, 74 percent of major U.S. companies keep tabs on workers by recording phone calls or voice mail and by checking employees’ computer files and e-mail.[viii] Such surveillance is helping companies crack down on abuse: Just months after Xerox began monitoring web usage, it fired 40 employees for viewing inappropriate websites—primarily pornographic sites.[ix]

The newest threat to privacy spyware, hidden programs that sneak onto your computer and to perform such nefarious tasks as sending information about your computing habits back to advertisers, dialing expensive toll numbers and charging it to you, or taking control of your web browser.[x]

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Next: Data Security

[7] Data Security

Before computers, companies typically conducted business mainly on paper, locking up sensitive documents and using security precautions when transporting important files. Furthermore, only a limited number of people had access to vital company data. But today's highly networked companies face a new and far more challenging threat to corporate data security.[xi]

Global networks increase the possibility that crucial information stored on an intranet or sent over the Internet will be stolen, altered, or destroyed. Criminals and assorted mischief makers attempt to penetrate corporate networks thousands of times every year. In the financial industry alone, 83% of companies in one survey said their internal networks had been infiltrated from the outside.[xii]

These infiltration attempts include cracking, or breaking into a computer network such as an intranet to steal, delete, or change data, and hacking, or entering a computer network for nondestructive reasons, such as to play a prank or show off, under the misguided impression that their activities don’t cause any harm. (Hacking is also used to describe any unauthorized attempt to infiltrate a network.)

The FBI estimates that reported computer losses as a result of sabotage total $10 billion annually—and the biggest threat comes from within. Up to 60 percent of computer break-ins are perpetrated by employees. Other violators include laid-off workers, contractors, and consultants who destroy, alter, or expose critical data.[xiii]

Unfortunately, cracking, hacking, data theft and other schemes are on the rise as criminals find ways to steal data—such as using portable music players and tiny memory devices known as flash drives or thumb drives to scoop data offer computers and networks.[xiv] Companies are scrambling to address these threats through a combination of technology, policy changes, and employee education. Simple fixes include installing firewalls, a special type of gateway that controls access to the company’s local network. In theory, the firewall allows access only to users who present the proper password and system identification, although like everything else in online security, there is not absolute guarantee.

In addition to firewalls, companies protect their data by (1) determining which employees should receive passwords to vital networks; (2) providing ongoing security enforcement and education; (3) conducting background checks on all new employees; (4) adopting a security policy that requires employees to use passwords, turn computers off when not in use, encrypt sensitive e-mail, and apply stronger security measures to safeguard trade secrets; and (5) developing a plan for data recovery if disaster strikes.[xv]

The latest data security plague is phishing, when a crook poses as a legitimate business and sends e-mail to unsuspecting users asking them to verify credit card numbers or other valuable information. If you respond, you're sent to a phony website that looks like the legitimate company's website. Although only 5 percent of e-mail recipients respond to phishing attempts, that's more than enough to make it a highly profitable crime.[xvi]

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Next: Sabotage and Cyberterrorism

[8] Sabotage and cyberterrorism

Today, criminals and malcontents of every stripe are using technology to disrupt websites and computer operations, steal credit card numbers from websites, and cause other problems for companies, governments, and individuals.

Viruses are malicious pieces of software that can change or delete files or programs and in some cases take control of a user's computer. Viruses take advantage of vulnerabilities in legitimate software and can be embedded in either the software program itself or within files that users pass from one computer to another. Worms are another unwanted presence; these programs are designed to replicate themselves over and over again. Usually spread by e-mail, these programs send more worms to everyone in the recipient’s e-mail address book. Even simple forms of sabotage, such as programming computers to repeatedly hit a particular website so frequently that other users can't access the site (known as a denial-of-service attack), can cause considerable financial damage.[xvii]

Viruses and worms cost businesses billions of dollars a year in lost productivity and the staffing and resources needed to combat them. And the problem is likely to get worse. Symantec, the leading security software company, says that every week, its lab finds 50 new vulnerabilities in software and 100 new viruses.[xviii]

In an increasingly networked world, the potential for cyberterrorist attacks is a growing concern, with damages that extend beyond the online arena into the physical world. Many vital elements of the national infrastructure, including water supplies, energy sources, and transportation, have some exposure to the threat of online attacks. Moreover, many corporate facilities, such as chemical plants, could be vulnerable as well. Solutions to this threat are far from simple, however, given the complex mixture of old and new technologies, competing commercial interests, and the costs of securing large networks.[xix]

References

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[i]. Mary Kathleen Flynn, “Courting Calls,” U.S. News & World Report, 2 February 2004, 40–42; Donny Jackson, “VoIP Recognition,” Telephony, 26 January 2004 [accessed 19 May 2004] .

[ii]. David Morse, ed., CyberDictionary: Your Guide to the Wired World (Santa Monica, Calif: Knowledge Exchange, 1996), 113.

[iii]. Morse, CyberDictionary, 233.

[iv]. [accessed 17 November 2004] .

[v]. Efraim Turban, Jae Lee, David King, and H. Michael Chung, Electronic Commerce, A Managerial Perspective (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2000), 15–16.

[vi]. Walid Mougayar, Opening Digital Markets (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998), 29–35.

[vii]. Turban et al., Electronic Commerce, A Managerial Perspective, 15–16.

[viii]. Jeff Howe, “Big Boss Is Watching,” Yahoo! Internet Life, October 2000, 105–107.

[ix]. Elisa Deardorff, “With Voice Mail, You Never Know Who’s Listening,” Chicago Tribune, 1 June 1998, B1, B8; “40 Fired for Sex-Site Abuse,” CNN America, 6 October 1999, 1999/10/06/companies/Xerox.

[x]. Lee Gomes, "Spyware Is Easy to Get, Difficult to Remove, Increasingly Malicious," Wall Street Journal, 12 July 2004, B1.

[xi]. Samuel Greengard, “How Secure Is Your Data?” Workforce, May 1998, 52–60; Nikhil Hutheesing and Philip E. Ross, “Hackerphobia,” Forbes, 23 March 1998, 150–154.

[xii]. Bill Brenner, "Survey: Network Attacks Double at Financial Firms," , 8 June 2004 [accessed 19 November 2004] .

[xiii]. Del Jones, “Businesses Battle over Intellectual Property,” USA Today, 2 August 2000, 1B, 2B; Greengard, “How Secure Is Your Data?”

[xiv] Jonathan Sidener, "Portable Pilfering," San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 September 2004, E1-E2.

[xv]. “Corporate Security Gets Urgent: 10 Tips For Creating a Network Security Policy,” Interactive Week, 23 October 2001 {need access information here?}

techupdate.techupdate/stories/main/0,14179,2819412-9,00.html.

[xvi]. David Bank, "Keeping Information Safe," Wall Street Journal, 11 November 2004, B1, B4.

[xvii]. Fred Vogelstein, "Why Hackers Are a Threat to Microsoft's Future," Fortune, 18 October 2004, 263-272.

[xviii]. Bank, "Keeping Information Safe."

[xix]. Robert Lenzner and Nathan Vardi, "The Next Threat, Forbes, 20 September 2004, 70-81.

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