Compiled by Vicky Nolan
Stealing E-Mail
It's quite likely someone is snooping through your e-mail, maybe even stealing it. E-mail is easy for someone else to intercept, says WildIDTM in a recent report warning Internet users about the danger of e-mail theft. "It's just like when people ignored the warnings to back up information on hard drives," said Ron Evans, WildID chief technology officer. "Only after costly and irreversible damage occurred did people start listening. Now, instead of financial records or a 50-page term paper being in jeopardy, it's every bit of information sent via e-mail. And, again, people are ignoring the danger, betting the odds are against it will ever happen to them." Evans explains that the culprits could include the FBI, ISPs, e-mail providers, employers, hotels, Internet cafes, "wired" housing and apartment houses and even schools.
www.wildid.com/email_interception.asp
Instant Message Precludes Instant Work Output
In questioning 451 employees and 670 employers, the Second Annual Vault.com Survey of Internet Use in the Workplace reports that 26 percent of employees used an instant messaging service during work hours.
Additionally, 37 percent of employees report that they search for another job, 45 percent make travel arrangements and 11 percent play online games while on the job. "The major setback (in office productivity) is Instant Message. An employee culture that uses IM reduces productivity. IM can be so engulfing and distracting that work becomes secondary," one respondent said. Another commented, "My employer is rarely there. As soon as she leaves, I long on." A third employee defended his online activities by saying, "I like to take care of non-work-related issues during break times. I do not smoke, so I consider these times my non-smoker breaks."
http://vault.com/vstore/SurveyResults/InternetUse/Index2000.cfm
Online Purchasing Fails to Overcome Security Concerns
A new survey conducted for MerchantOnline by Brusking Research asked consumers with Internet access about their attitudes towards making online purchases, as well as their thoughts about the new Electronic Signature Law. Almost three in five such users are concerned that their credit card numbers could be stolen when making purchases over the Internet. Nearly another third are concerned that personal information could be obtained from their credit card. "When it comes to purchasing goods and services on the Internet, people are genuinely concerned about the security and privacy of their credit card and personal information," explained MerchantOnline CEO Tarek Kirschen. "Although the E-Signature Law will open up a convenient new way for people to engage in legally binding transactions, the survey shows that many people need to be educated about the law and the methods available to protect their personal and credit card information when making purchases online."
www.merchantonline.com
ASPs Need Performance Management, Security
The most pressing ASP infrastructure systems software needs are performance management and security, a
recent IDC survey shows. "Strong and demonstrable security is of special importance to ASPs," a spokesman explained. "Security is a horizontal and pervasive infrastructure tool vital to network, applications, and, increasingly, content access and use. Prospective customers must be convinced that their corporate applications, data, and transactions will be secure for them to even consider engaging an ASP solution." The IDC survey also found an increasing need for ISS solutions, including network management, security software, data movement, middleware, Web servers and operating systems and self administration.
www.idc.com
Web Pages Are Still Too Big
The latest survey of web page size and load times conducted by ZDNet reveals that many webmasters still need to sign up for cyber-Weight Watchers. While web pages have certainly decreased in size over the past few years, the average website is still much larger than it ideally should be. A study of 150 websites calculated the median weight (the average number of kilobytes of data on a homepage) at 89KB. Experts recommend an optimum median weight of 60KB. Size determines how fast pages load into your browser's window. Fancy graphics and advertising banners often bulk up the size, and designers have constantly to balance the need for advertising revenue with the risk that slower download will deter visitors altogether. Search engines and portals such as Yahoo.com (37 KB) and Lycos.com (30 KB) are often quoted as the ideal size. Search engine Google.com boasts an anorexic 12KB. In reality, many if not most commercial sites are likely to be in the 50 to 100KB range, if not more. The survey suggests an "eight-second
download rule"; the average surfer gets bored if he/she has to wait much longer for a page to open up, and of course e-commerce sites therefore lose business if visitors are too impatient and go elsewhere. One research company estimates that online businesses lose a staggering US $362m per month because visitors won't wait for heavy pages to load! A 100KB home page, including images, means an average download time of 38 seconds on a 28.8K dial-up connection.
Is Internet Addiction Real?
A debate is brewing among psychologists and psychiatrists over "Internet addiction." Internet users, reports the Daily Collegian, are likely to suffer from this problem if they meet four or more criteria established by Dr. Kimberly Young, the executive director of the Center for On-Line Addiction. College students are highly susceptible to Internet addiction, Young claims, because "[t]hey typically have unlimited and free access to log online, which causes problems such as academic failure in school and relationship breakups." One critic of Young's research is Dr. Ivan Goldberg, who believes that Young's definition of Internet addiction ignores other factors that could be pushing victims online. "The Internet is a distraction technique that has some pleasure attached to it," Goldberg said. Internet addiction, he added, could be related to other problems, such as depression or over-anxiety.