Matt Johnson: Is online security getting so over-protective it could halt trade?

Aug 15 2007 by Matt Johnson, Liverpool Daily Post

SECURITY is a word that has taken on new significance in recent years. It applies now to pretty well every aspect of our modern lives, not least in the way we work and travel.

In the past week, there have been two examples of breaches of security that previously would have been considered unimaginable. The first came in Surrey, where “biosecurity” appears to have been breached at the laboratory site at the centre of the foot and mouth scare.

The breach has had dramatic consequences for farmers and the livestock industry and in a business sense it has also sparked a crisis for the commercial manufacturer of the vaccine made at the site.

In little more than a blink of an eye a successful commercial business finds itself immersed in a crisis of huge proportions.

Like any business finding itself in such circumstances, the speed of recovery depends on, to a large extent, the quality of its disaster planning. Another case in point was Mattel’s recent recall of potentially millions of toys.

This week’s other security warning came from the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee. They did not mince their words in addressing the issue of e-crime and security on the internet.

Hundreds of new businesses are dipping their toe in the online sales market, whether that be home-based micro-businesses trading on e-bay or large multi-nationals selling products direct to consumers.

Estimates are that more of those consumers are choosing to shop online, despite the fact that internet fraud is still a concern.

Many websites are offering consumers new levels of protection, but customers should be wary of sites which do not look reputable.

It is paramount that as businesses develop their online systems, they make them as secure as possible for both themselves and their customers. But they also need to function effectively as a sales channel.

Last Saturday I was out buying a new bathroom suite with the children around. This proved too frustrating, so I returned home and spent three and a half hours searching for a suite on the internet. Unfortunately this was equally frustrating.

Having done all my research, I was ready to pay for a purchase, when a security notice popped up to inform me that the seller was unable to accept my credit card, even though there was plenty of spare funds on it. It was an example of how a security system’s vigilance, designed to protect the seller, unnecessarily prevented the trade taking place.

The refusal could also have wasted all that painstaking research. Happily another site took my card, but that was only because I persisted in trying to do the deal. Others might have given up. If that’s a common experience, the internet isn’t working as it should be.

MATT JOHNSON is chairman of Mando Group