JULY 5, 1999
Welcome to "The Ripple Effect" Newsletter!
Brought To You By Digital Ripple
http://www.digitalripple.com/

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In Today's Issue:

Quote:       Rupert Murdoch
News:        Network Solutions Cracked!
Tip:         Effective Forms Continued...
Biz Sites:   1. ZDU Net ! Learning online.
             2.  Sonador Free Newsgroup Retrieval Service
             3. Remember It! Reminders Online
Term:       What is an ASP?
Facts:      Security rated top on-line fear

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

**  "I don't understand the technology, and I never will. But you don't
have to. You have to understand what it can do for  you."
- Rupert Murdoch, discussing the Internet
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LATE BREAKING NEWS:

**Network Solutions Cracked
 
Network Solutions was reeling Friday from an attack on its Web servers
that redirected users visiting its Web site to  other locations.

"The FBI and Network Solutions are cooperating in determining the
location" of the attack, said Network Solutions spokesman Brian
O'Shaughnessy.

The IP addresses for Network Solutions servers were altered in
the domain name system servers with a  falsified template, so that Web
browsers requesting the sites were instead sent to  the IP address of
another site.

Analysis/Comment from the CyberSisters:

Network Solutions is the primary domain name service for the Internet,
i.e. it is the company that registers web names such as digitalripple.com.
The smooth functioning of the Internet and e-commerce requires these
services being in place. The domain name
registration service being out would be like the phone companies being
unable to hook up new phone numbers for a few days. It may be ok for a day
or two, but beyond that there it would be a major problem. Security
breaches like this one and the Melissa virus
that happened earlier in the year remind me of how relatively new and
inherently "open" or insecure Internet technology is. (see our earlier
article http://www.digitalripple.com/predictions.html
where we predicted a couple of highly publicized break-ins this year!).

The moral of the story? Security basics are important - especially if you
are running or storing sensitive data over the Net. If you are thinking of
developing or using an application over the
Internet, don't forget to do an in-depth security analysis.

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TIP:

*Creating an Effective Online Form - Continued ...*

One of the more common features you will find on Web sites is a form that
people can fill out to provide some sort of feedback to the site owner.
Last week, we began this series with an overview of issues related to
planning your form. In this issue,  we'll tackle the basic technical
aspects of setting up a form.

1.  Check with your hosting company, to see if they give you access to a
CGI script that will allow you to use a feedback form.

2.  If you need help with CGI, or your provider does not give you a script
but you are allowed to add your own, check the resources on the following
Web sites:

http://www.CGI-Resources.com/
http://BigNoseBird.com/trouble.shtml
http://www.perl.com/CPAN-local/doc/FAQs/cgi/idiots-guide.html

3.  If you don't have the ability at your site to put up your own form, or
if your provider charges you extra for having a form, you might consider a
great free option, available at http://www.freedback.com/ .  You can fill
out the form on the Freedback.com homepage, to create your own form that
you can use on your site for free.

That's it for the technical aspects of a basic form. More complex forms
may require database interaction or specialized programming.

One last note about forms : don't forget to answer them! A recent Jupiter
Communications report indicated that 42 percent of businesses with high
traffic Web sites don't support e-mail inquiries, take longer than 5 days
to reply, or never respond at all. This kind of action -- or rather,
inaction -- is all the encouragement
that a customer needs to move on to your competitors! Make sure you
respond quickly and effectively to your online form.

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BIZ SITES OF THE DAY:

**ZDU - online learning community

ZDU is an online community that teaches consumers and business people
how to use their computers more productively. It has a selection
of web based courses, which are either instructor-led or
self-study. See our article at http://www.digitalripple.com/seriously.html
for why this type of "learning outside the box" is another example of
the ripple effect of digital technology.

http://www.zdu.com/

**Sonador Free Newsgroup Retrieval Service

Sonador is a free service that daily searches Newsgroup
postings for a set of keywords you specify. The header
and body of each newsgroup posting in your chosen
newsgroup is scanned for your keywords, and if a match
is found, the article is emailed to you.

http://www.sonador.com/News/

**RememberIt-Memory Boost

RememberIt is an event reminder service that lets you remain
anonymous if you want. You can mark down your own import-
ant events or select from a list of prescheduled holidays

http://www.rememberit.com/

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TERM OF THE DAY:

Encyclopedia Of The New Economy

**What is an ASP?

ASP  means "Application Service Provider". It refers to a new breed of
software/Internet companies that are emerging that allow you to "rent"
high end business software through web servers. First wave Internet
companies were called "ISPs" for Internet Service
Providers and generally provided email, dialup and web hosting services.
However, the next wave of Internet companies are providing services and
applications, such as the biz sites listed above. The term "application
service provider" is a company that is providing a
software application or service from a web site. See the Globe and Mail
article

http://news.globetechnology.com/gam/News/19990625/SOFT1.html

for more information.

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FACTOID OF THE DAY:

** Security rated top on-line fear!
E-commerce survey says shoppers also worry about privacy

A recent Angus Reid/Globe and Mail poll of 1,500 Canadian adults found
that a majority of those surveyed -- 52 per cent -- pegged security as
their primary concern about E-commerce. And in what could be seen as a
dire warning for on-line retailers, respondents who had made at least one
on-line purchase over the Internet were more likely to list security as
their top concern than those who had never done so.
 
Access to the Internet, meanwhile, continues to climb. The survey found
that 55 per cent of Canadians now have regular access to the Internet, up
from 46 per cent in a similar survey in March, 1998, and 37 per cent in
November, 1996. Women for the first time now account for more than half --
58 per cent of all new Internet users.

Note from the CyberSisters:

This is a warning/reminder to all our clients who are web merchants.
Remember that not only do you have to actually address security concerns,
you also have to explain this to your customers and potential customers.
Your web site must convey a professional image, and must explain what
steps you have taken to address security concerns.

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That's it for now! Have a great week!
 

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