Hacker Insurance

With the recent spate of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks against some big-name Web sites, a growing number of sites and online retailers are protecting themselves by buying Internet insurance that covers hacker attacks.

Although still a fledgling business in many senses, Internet/hacker insurance may be the next frontier in business insurance--a way to legitimize the Web as a secure and viable business realm.

Internet insurance policies cover a diverse range of companies. For example, the venerable Lloyd's of London has stepped into the Internet insurance foray, offering coverage of up to $50,000,000, with premiums starting at $10,000 per year. Their policy covers attacks from external hackers, disgruntled employees, viruses, extortion, and more. Depending on the coverage you purchase, Lloyd's insures against varying amounts of financial loss from downtime and theft.

InsureTrust.com specializes in insuring e-businesses, with policies and services tailored to the industry. Policies protect against everything from computer crashes to hacker attacks. Companies are insured against the loss of data or profits that result from these breaches/breakdowns. InsureTrust performs a thorough onsite security check before writing any policies; the company has turned down potential customers. InsureTrust's annual premiums range from $5,000 to $250,000, with coverage of up to $25 million per year.

Many other insurance brokers offer similar policies. Check out 4BusinessInsurance.com's spotlight on anti-hacker insurance for more information and resources.

Monitor Your Site's Trends

WebTrends Corporation recently released WebTrends Live, a product that performs real-time Web site visitor analysis and tracks e-commerce activity and marketing campaigns.

WebTrends correlates e-commerce sales data and Web site visitor behavior, giving Web site owners a clear picture of how visitors use their sites. The success of online promotions can also be monitored live.

WebTrends Live is available in three editions: the E-Commerce Edition is suited to large-volume sites; the Enterprise Edition is meant for smaller sites; and the Personal Edition is available for very small, personal Web sites.

Pricing is based on your site's traffic volume. For example, the Enterprise Edition would cost $50 per month for a site with 50,000 monthly page views, while the E-Commerce Edition would run $3,000 per month for a site with 4 million monthly page views. The Personal Edition is free, provided you place a WebTrends button on each page you want tracked. All the editions are available for a 7-day free trial.

WebTrends Corporation, 503-294-7025.

Linux for Small Businesses

Rebel.com Inc., a supplier of Linux and Unix business applications, has launched its online e-commerce site, shop.rebel.com. All of Rebel.com's products are featured here; customers can easily access information or purchase them. Transactions are SSL secured.

One of Rebel.com's most popular products is the Linux-based NetWinder OfficeServer, an all-in-one Internet server that integrates hardware and the open-source software to provide Internet and local-area network support for small and mid-sized businesses. The OfficeServer features firewall/VPN, Web site hosting, Web access, file and print sharing, e-mail, and other services. Pricing for OfficeServer ranges from $999 for desktop configuration, to $1,665 for single rackmount configuration, or $3,145 for dual rackmount configuration.

Rebel.com Inc., 877-282-6735.

B2B Certification

E-Certify and b2bScene.com have partnered to provide validation and secure transaction services for commerce sites running within the b2bScene.com marketplace. E-Certify issues digital certificates and electronic user profiles to identify buyers and sellers, enabling secure transactions.

With a PKI foundation and E-Certify's security safeguards, b2bScene.com claims it can ensure that all its members know who they are communicating with and that business transactions are encrypted.

B2bScene.com is a cross-industry e-marketplace that offers a variety of business-to-business services for small, medium, and large corporations that let employees, business partners, and customers interact.

B2bScene.com, 519-888-7111. E-Certify, 972-770-4530.