B2B Integration : A Practical Guide to Collaborative E-commerce

Internet Security 289
10.2. B2Bi — Makes a Company Highly Vulnerable
to Security Risks
At the core of B2Bi is communication — the real-time exchange of
sensitive corporate data among trading partners. If the security within a
company is not good enough, it not only risks exposure of its data but
also that of its trading partners.
Below are some key reasons that make B2Bi considerably vulnerable
to security risks:
10.2.1. Complex nature of applications
B2Bi involves a variety of applications and software components. A
typical system consists of custom-developed applications, off-the-shelf
components and vendor- provided components, all integrated together.
It is very difficult to evaluate each component's robustness from a
security point of view and there may be potential weak points that go
unnoticed.
10.2.2. Anonymous relationships in
B2B e-commerce
Anonymity, a key characteristic of B2B e-commerce, poses a high
security threat to online transactions. Given the dynamic nature of
relationships in B2B e-commerce, a company may deal with several
kinds of trading partners, and some of them will not even be known
beforehand. This greatly increases the risk of impostors, posing as
trading partners, trying to sneak into the company's corporate networks.
10.2.3. Software undergoing frequent change
Due to the large number of applications involved in a typical B2Bi
environment, the amount and frequency of adjustments that have to be
made to the whole system is considerably high. This increases the risk
of potential bugs introduced into the system.