The growth and the expansion of the Internet and the World Wide Web continue toimpact society in new and amazing ways. The role of economic commerce has notbeen as dynamic as some predicted, but has still demonstrated remarkable successand tremendous potential. Any failure to meet some of the expectations may beexplained in large part by questions and concerns surrounding existing methods ofelectronic commerce and of the Internet. A key negative perception centres on thesecurity involved in Internet practice and electronic payment systems. Negativeperceptions are then compounded and reinforced by massive media exposure ofInternet security incidents. Many consumers still lack the necessary trust in on-linemerchants and Internet security procedures and continue to use the Web to simplybrowse. The types of attack individuals face include confidence-trick or actualencounters calculated to extract bank or personal details, computer spyware thatopens on accessing the Internet, enticing users with offers of non-existent free giftswhile copying confidential files, and programmes that can infiltrate networks,operating within them undetected, ultimately causing them to crash. SocialEngineering is one such method used by an attacker to get information. There aretwo main categories under which all social engineering attempts could be classified,computer or technology-based deception and human based deception. Thetechnology-based approach is to deceive the user into believing that is interactingwith the ‘real’ computer system (such as popup window, informing the user that thecomputer application has had a problem) and get the user to provide confidentialinformation. The human approach is done through deception, by taking advantage ofthe victim’s ignorance, and the natural human inclination to be helpful and liked.One of the most effective technology-based approach is a scam, called “phishing” asa form of identity theft. This is a technique used to gain personal information for thepurposes of identity theft, using fraudulent e-mail messages that appear to comefrom legitimate businesses. These authentic-looking messages are designed to foolrecipients into divulging personal data such as account numbers and passwords,credit card numbers and Social Security numbers. This paper provides an overviewof electronic commerce and the impact of risk and trust on on-line shoppingconsumer behaviour. Due to the growth and potential of on-line shopping and thelack of academic-based research on Internet-related consumer behaviour, there is atremendous need for impartial, academic investigation into the behaviour andperceptions of on-line consumers.
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