Advances in digital technology are not only enhancing the relationship between business and its customers, but also threatening it. Digital technology, which includes the Internet, intranets, extranets, computers and software is not only helping organizations better serve existing customers, but it facilitating a new generation of illegal activity called cyber-crimes. Cyber-crimes are illegal activities committed by criminals using the medium of computers, the Internet and the world wide web (WWW) to defraud individuals or organizations of financial resources, steal confidential, proprietary, technological or marketing information, disrupt of service resulting in major losses to the business or inconvenience to the customer, and reduce customer confidence in digital technology due to illegal intrusions into customer files and/or company business.
Because much of the media coverage has been directed at cyber-terrorism, the impact of cyber-crime has gone largely undetected. This void has contributed to the fact that business security has not become a board-room or front-office business priority. As a result, a large percentage of businesses are encountering some form of cyber-crime. If left unchecked, the possibility exists that cyber-crime may erode the functionality of the Internet and World Wide Web as a means for businesses to compete in a highly competitive global economy.
To stem this situation,
Duquesne University's Palumbo  Donahue
School of Business has focused on the advancement
the security protection among businesses
of all shapes and sizes. This website is
just one effort to improve the adoption and
integration of digital technology in small
and mid-sized businesses, foster collaborative
research with other institutions of higher
learning, and serve as a repository for "best practices" on business security. |
