ICT Technologies in Business: Cloud Computing and Security Measures

This report examines the application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in modern business, focusing on technologies like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, and the importance of cloud storage and computing. The main body of the report details the features, applications, suitability, advantages, and disadvantages of these technologies, highlighting their role in facilitating business operations, particularly in the post-COVID-19 era. It also delves into the advantages and disadvantages, suitability, and applications of cloud storage and computing, crucial for maintaining online services and infrastructure. Furthermore, the report addresses the challenges and measures related to security and privacy that businesses and users must consider when operating online, including financial fraud, spam, and phishing. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings and emphasizes the importance of understanding and adapting to these technological advancements and security concerns in the digital age.

Integrated Professional skills
in the Digital Age

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................................3
Technologies used by businesses and its features, application, suitability, advantages and
disadvantages..........................................................................................................................................3
Advantages and Disadvantages, suitability and application of cloud storage and computing.................5
Discuss the challenges and measures of security and privacy that businesses and users would take.....8
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Information and Communication technology (ICT) refers to the technology businesses
uses to share information with less time and efforts thus most of the organisations now prefer
different technologies for their own beneficial after Covid-19. It makes easy for businesses to
transact daily business operations in an effective and efficient manner (Mansour, 2017). The
present assignment report is based on the use of technologies that are widely used by businesses
due to pandemic, COVID-19. In addition with this, the report discusses the importance of cloud
storage and computing to meet business needs in order to acquire and maintain their own
infrastructure in offering online services. At last, challenges and measures of security and
privacy that businesses and users would take to go online has been also discussed under this
report.
MAIN BODY
Technologies used by businesses and its features, application, suitability, advantages and
disadvantages
There are different technologies that businesses can use for its own benefits which
includes Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Go to Meeting, Team Viewer, WebEx etc. Due to pandemic,
COVID-19 the need of using such technologies are high due to which every business
organization invest more to acquire such technologies to achieve long-term sustainability into
competitive market. Here are the explanation of some technologies that businesses can use for its
own benefits:
Zoom
It is an application that provide its users to place free video calls with number of people
or an individual. It has its primary focus on business which targets the professions around the
world. For example, it provides user to connect at distance locations with clear and audible
visibility. The prime customers of the app are Acceleration partners, Acosta, Mascus, Delta,
Popsockets and Dropbox.
Features
 The app uses starred feature which provides its contacts, messages and channels on top.

 It allows to use customize background pictures and search options chats for convenience
of customers.
 The app is best known for best video and audio transfers and instant sharing tools. The zoom helps in recording the meetings and events and can be uploaded to Blackboard
Learn, Box, One Drive Video, or YouTube.
Advantages
 The App is easy to use as it easily connects to desktops and mobile devices.
 The application is pocket friendly for small business setup apart from other conferencing
apps.
 It is capable for running on windows, linux and android operating system.
 It allows more flexibility in work. Participants can communicate anytime through live chats in the middle of the
conversation.
Disadvantages
 The customers service department failed in providing suggestive solution within
reasonable time period.
 Intrusion by strangers in hacking passwords make the zoom security matters a great
concern of its users.
 Cyber-attacks have resulted in losing its business ambit which resulted in economic
downfall.
 The server of the company is reported its linking network in China by which there is a
threat to customer personal data. Any person can join the meeting if properly zoom app is not used.
Microsoft Teams
It is messaging app which an organization uses to stay organized and have
communications at one place like meetings, videoconferencing app and file sharing. It is
integrated with its online office 365 which refers that is connected to others services which the
app provides such as excel and word. During the pandemic time, the app has gained high interest
as meetings have primarily moved to virtual environment.
Features

 Online screen sharing and video calling to employees and clients acts as a great feature
on collaboration platform.
 Audio conferencing where anyone can join online meeting via phone is the unique
feature of the app.
 Microsoft allows for full telephony options where current phone system could be easily
being replaced with(Bowen and et. al., 2018.) Microsoft teams provide a chat function which is found in collaboration apps and take
place between teams, group and individual.
Advantages
 It can be accessed anywhere and is not limited to hardware and software devices.
 With Microsoft teams’ ones existing appointments are synced with other members.
 Presently the company focused on increasing its productivity by placing the right
individual on the table to focus on high collaborations.
 The notification mode mentions the highlighted activity on the top. Team productivity is increased by making collaboration– conversations, chats, online
meetings, shared files, tasks, etc. available in one single app and one single interface.
Disadvantages
 Complex structure of the files usually confuses its users.
 The permission settings act as a barrier for its users which is not possible for individual to
deal with.
 Defaults options results in unnecessary formation of terms which results in consumption
in storage.
 Restriction number of channels upto 200 public and 30 private channels may turn into a
problem of big organizations.
 A team is created in a organization which consume storage unnecessarily.
Advantages and Disadvantages, suitability and application of cloud storage and computing
Cloud storage
Definition:
Cloud storage is a technology that helps in saving files in storage and then access those
files through cloud service provider. It is a computing model who manages and operates data

storage as a service. Cloud storage is available in private, public and hybrid clouds.
Advantages Accessibility- The files saved in the cloud are accessed from anywhere and anytime with
the use of internet connection. It is beneficial for organizations which has large number
of workers residing in remote locations. Cost saving – The organization has a benefit of cost saving by reducing annual operating
cost as it is not depending on internal power to store information remotely and provide lot
of storage for saving files. (García-Peñalvo and et. al., 2019).
 Disaster recovery- Cloud storage helps in disaster recovery by using backup plan as
second copy is created of important files. It enhances the safety and security safeguard
from thefts or cyber-attacks.
 Convenient- It is easy to use as it does not require any hard disk or drive to access data it
require only storage device to download the data or file in device.
Disadvantages
1. Network connection dependency- There is too much dependency on internet connection
because to transfer the data file to cloud it requires internet connection. There is difficulty
in transferring the files to remote servers as sometimes internet connection faces technical
troubles. If backups are running during business hours the performance suffers because of
higher utilization OF internet,
2. Insecurity -There are some possibilities of losing vital data from hackers as secretive data
and information of organization is provided to a third party of cloud service provider.
3. Data management – Cloud storage system have there own structure which creates the
problem of managing data in cloud. Management system of the organization cannot
integrate well with the cloud vendor system.
Suitability and Applications
 Database building - Building a physical database business can take the advantage of the
cloud scalable resources to maintain virtual database.
 It has a variety of applications, including data, backup, data sharing, and resources
services. It provides interchangeable programme for other network.

 Less money for more space - The company can have unlimited storage in cloud by
paying less money and cost cheaper rather than buying and maintaining hard drives
storage space.
Examples of some companies using cloud storage are Microsoft azure, Dell EMC, IBM,
google cloud platform, Intel etc.
CLOUD COMPUNTING
Definition:
Cloud computing is a process where different services such as servers, storage, database,
networking, software, analytics and intelligence are delivered through internet.
Advantages Reduced it cost- Cloud computing helps in reducing the cost of managing and
maintaining the IT systems. It helps in reducing the operating cost as there is no
requirement of paying wages to expert and also helps in reducing energy consumption of
staff. Flexibility - Employees are more flexible in there work as the data can be access from
anywhere and can be connected to virtual office by doing its work from anywhere
(Masuda and Viswanathan, 2019). Backup and restore data- The cloud provides unlimited storage capacity which is easy to
get backup and recovery of information stored in a cloud.
 Enhances cooperation- Cloud applications enhance cooperation by authorizing virtual
meeting and exchanging information between the group of people which helps in
improving customer service and product development with the help of shared storage.
Disadvantages Limited features- all cloud providers are not created equally as they provide limited
storage to store the file. Dependency on internet connection- When there is no internet connection it creates the
problem to access the data which is the biggest obstacles in developing and remote areas.
The weakness of public cloud is where everyone accesses the same server and server and
will increase the risk of attack, and down the server.

 Vulnerability in the event of an attack – Cloud computing has online work system which
can be exposed to a wide range as each component is accessible through internet which
gives an opportunity of attack on data stored in the server.
Suitability and Application
1. Art Application- Cloud computing offers Rapidly and well design attractive cards, booklets
and images that are offered through art application. Some commonly used art
applications are- moo, vista print, adobe creative cloud.
2. Business Application – These applications are based on cloud service provider which
ensures applications are 24*7 available to users (Hatzigianni and Kalaitzidis, 2018). The
computing are mail chimp, sales force, chatter, PayPal, slack, Quikbooks etc.
3. Data Storage and backup application- The application is used to save information (data,
files, images, audio, and videos) in cloud and can be access through internet connection.
Such as Box.com, Mozy, Joukuu Google G Suite etc.
4. Education application- The benefit of using cloud in field of education offers several
online learning platforms and source portals to the student. The commonly used
application are Google apps, chrome books for education, AWS in education.
Example of some companies using cloud computing are server space, red hat, egnyte,
Dropbox, adobe.
Discuss the challenges and measures of security and privacy that businesses and users would
take
Internet privacy, also known as online privacy is the subset of the data privacy and the
fundamental human right. It mainly refers to the personal privacy to which an individual is
responsible when displaying, storing and providing information about itself on internet (Elsey
and Kelly, 2019). The common challenges relating to privacy and security which the business
and users faces when they go online to use variety of services are illustrated below- Financial frauds- This has inflicted the online businesses since the inception of them.
Hackers may make the unauthorised transaction and then wipe out all the trail costing

business which results in significant loss to business. Refund fraud is common among
business where the business refund the illegally acquired produce or the damaged goods. Spam- Emails are considering as the strong medium for the higher sales, it is also one of
those medium which is used highly for spamming. The open invitation to online
spammers during contact from or the comment on the blog gives an opportunity to
spammers to leave an infected link so that they can cause harm to business. Spamming
not only effects the security of website but also damages the speed of website.
 Phishing- It is one of the common threat of security in e- commerce when the hackers
masquerade as the legitimate business and then sends emails to the clients in order to
trick them, thereby forcing them to reveal their personal information by presenting the
fake copy of website or any other thing which can make the customer believe that the
request is coming from business( Bodnar and Clark, 2017).
Solutions to overcome the challenges of security and privacy Switch to HTTPS- The outdated version of HTTP protocol makes its vulnerable for the
attackers to attack. the HHTP which displays the green lock sign and says secured next to
URL on computer of customer. This not only protects the sensitive data of customers but
also protects the user data. This also pops up on the screen that the website is not the
secure one and warns the user from proceeding to it.
 Secure servers and admin panels- Many platform of E Commerce comes with the
default password which is easy to guess. And if these passwords are not changed then
there are chances to expose the individual to preventable hacks. It is recommended to use
complex passwords and usernames and frequently change them (Adnan, 2018). Payment gateway security- Whenever any user is making payment and saves the credit
card details, it is an open invitation for the hackers where the reputation of hacker is put
at stake and the sensitive information of customer is put on the online. The business must
ensure that its payment gateways security is not at the risk.
 Employ multi-layer security- The security can be fortified by using many layers of
security. The business can use CDN in order to protect the site against the DDoS attacks
malevolent incoming traffic. This is done many by utilising the machine learning in order
to filter out malicious traffic from the regular one. The users can use two factor
authentication in order to squeeze additional layer of the security. It is a combination of

password and extra code which is sent as the email or SMS to the provided mobile
number. This enables the users to access services when their username and password is at
risk.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above report that information technology have taken the
economy to the other level of growth. There is huge impact of COVID-19 on the various sector
but the technology made the easy lives of the individual and they are able to deal with the global
pandemic. Technologies such as Zoom, Micro Soft team help I getting the large group of
audience at a single platform with the virtual mode of their technologists.

REFERENCES
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