| Your Web site earned more than a million dollars last | | | | Web site. You could easily fall prey to a denial of |
| year. Business is booming and people are buying from | | | | service attack or a virus infection. Either way, ignoring |
| you. You plan on expanding your product line, even | | | | your systems' or Website's security is a sure way to |
| expanding the services you offer. Then it happens. | | | | invite trouble. |
| When you log into your Website one morning, you see | | | | The truth of the matter is that your Web site will have |
| a page that announces to the whole world that your | | | | applications that are less than secure. Web applications |
| site was hacked. The buyers stop buying, even your | | | | accounted for 54% of all exploitable vulnerabilities |
| most loyal customers have taken their businesses | | | | discovered by IBM's unit, Internet Security System, in |
| elsewhere. | | | | 2008. What is worse, it seems that Web application |
| People are complaining that they are being redirected | | | | vendors are not inclined to do anything about it. The |
| to another site, one which set their anti-virus software | | | | IBM unit also found that close to three-fourths of all |
| off. Before you know it, you have been sued by | | | | known vulnerabilities found in Web applications have no |
| people who used to be your customers, alleging that | | | | available patches. |
| your neglect has caused fraudulent transactions on | | | | And the possibility of hackers targeting Web sites are |
| their credit cards, or that the lax security on your site | | | | high. In fact, hackers are more likely to try and hack |
| has led to identity thefts. | | | | into Web sites rather than robustly- and pro-actively |
| While this is an extreme scenario, it is a very possible | | | | protected networks, because security on Web sites is |
| one. And hacking attacks are not the only headache | | | | more lax. |
| you can encounter when you run an ecommerce | | | | |