Impact of Internet on Businesses, Society, and Security in Digital Age

This report delves into the multifaceted impact of the internet in the digital age, exploring both its positive and negative consequences on businesses and society. It examines how the internet has revolutionized communication, facilitated e-commerce, and provided access to information while also highlighting the risks of cyber threats, hacking, and the erosion of personal privacy. The report further investigates security measures, such as encryption and antivirus software, to mitigate these risks. Finally, it compares the features and applications of communication providers like EE and Vodafone, offering insights into the evolving landscape of digital communication. The report underscores the importance of integrating professional skills with technological advancements for optimal outcomes in the digital era.

Integrated Professional
Skills in the Digital Age

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
1) Positive and negative use of internet ......................................................................................1
Introduction of Internet...........................................................................................................1
Use of internet to businesses..................................................................................................1
Use of internet to society........................................................................................................3
2) Personal and privacy security while using internet ....................................................................4
Threats faced by organisations and society when using internet...........................................4
Security measures that can be adopted while using internet..................................................5
3) Comparison of features and applications of communication providers .....................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Internet is the biggest world wide network of computers that facilitates easy
communication between different computers or nodes after getting due permissions from internet
service providers. Internet has millions of smaller domestic, academic, government and business
networks, which together contains many different kinds of knowledge and information. Digital
age or information age, is started with the introduction of personal computers and advance
technology providing the free and quick transfer of on information from one place to another
(Gray and Palaiologou, 2019). It become necessary to integrate professional skills with latest
technology to get best results through automation of services like it has made research work easy
and also provide different online services to customers. This assignment is based on positive and
negative impact of internet and also include various threat of the internet. Security and privacy
measures are also included in this project. At last, this report also contain comparison of features
and applications of communications providers.
1) Positive and negative use of internet
Introduction of Internet
Internet is global system of interconnected computer networks that make use of internet
protocol suite to link different devices across the world. Internet was initially originated in 1960s
through a research commissioned by federal government of United States. The Internet rapidly
expanded in Europe and Australia till mid 1980s and soon become a important part of all
developed economy (Preeshl, 2019). Internet provide many services like facility of electronic
mail, chat with colleagues and also provide easy assess of information on a wide variety of
subjects. Other positive and negative use of internet are provided below:
Use of internet to businesses
Internet provides a easy way or channel for businesses to connect with customer's and
also build a strong network between them. Internet is helpful in providing a communication
platform to get new potential customers and also retain and maintain existing customers.
Following are the positive and negative use of internet to businesses :
Positive use of internet
1

Business are making use of internet to boost their efficiency and to provide better
customer services (Positive and Negative Impact of Internet on Business Operation, 2018). The
positive uses of internet for a business are explained below:
 Improved communication- Internet has made communication easy through different
communication tool like emails, websites, mobile chat apps (like whatsapp), social media
platforms, etc. Email, chat and message facility makes it easy for businesses to
communicate quickly with partners, employees and customers. Video conferencing
provides a easy way to conduct meetings online which will save the cost of business
travel.
 Easy research work- No business can grow without conducting timely research about
their product and services as desires and customers get change after some time and the
only way to find out the latest trend of market is research. With use of internet business
associates can easily gather all the relevant information about prevailing changes, price
level, new techniques and about competitors also. By making use of various online
websites and other tools like Google scholar,Trello, Mendeley, etc. internet makes it easy
for business to conduct market research without any hassle and with minimum cost
(Puchner, 2019).
 Advertisement- Internet provides a cheap and easy of advertising to reach target
audience all over world. Various internet platforms like search engine optimization(SEO)
and social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, twitter, etc. provides a effective
way to business to promote its product or service to attract big markets and target
customers.
 E- businesses- It is also known as online business whee all the business transactions and
communication take place online with the help of internet. Internet has made concept of
e-business possible through providing a medium or channel where buyer and seller can
make deals and purchase transaction. Internet has made businesses easy as seller can
reach customers and customers can easily made online payments without any trouble.
Negative use of internet
Internet has made business operations easy but there are also some negative of internet
for an business. The negative use of internet for business are as follows:
2

 Poor impersonality– Internet has made communication easy but at the same time
reduced the personal or face to face contact between buyer and seller. Face to face
communication is time consuming but provide more convincing and effective way to
establish long lasting relationship with customers (Positive and Negative Impact of
Internet on Business Operation, 2018).
 Increase in competition- Internet created many opportunity for online shops and stores
but this has increased competition and threat for local and small businesses. Internet
provides a cheap and easy for operating businesses activities and thus, driven all
customers to buying products online as they are easily available and cheap thus, leaving
no business or market for traditional and local businesses.
 Worrying security- Use of Internet has increased the threat of hackers as they can have
easy reach towards sensitive information of clients, customers and businesspersons which
can greatly damage the whole business. With the use of internet and hacking skills any
unauthorised person can assess people's bank account, passwords, credit card detail or
any other crucial personal information (Mosweu and Ngoepe, 2019).
Use of internet to society
Internet is helpful in building more powerful societies through removing the barriers of
national boundaries and bringing world together but at the same time it is also misused by some
group of people and organisations (How internet impact society positively and negatively, 2019).
The positive and negative use of internet to society are as follows:
Positive use of internet
 Effective communication- Internet provides various tools and services which are brining
people together through establishing a better commination between them. Peer to peer
services is provided by internet which is offering a decentralised platform where two
individuals can interact directly with each other. Use of social media platform like
Facebook, Instagram and facility of e mails are also offered by internet to bring society
together.
 Online banking and shopping– Internet provide 24/7 hour online banking and shopping
facility to customers. Online shopping and banking facility saves customers time and cost
also provide list of all transition for future assistance (Son, 2019).
3

 Better eduction facility- Internet provides the facility of web browsing which a software
that enables a individuals to access any information on the world wide web. Any student
or person can retrieve necessary content on any topic from web server through making
use of its computer device. Internet also provide facility of online video lecture across the
world which has made learning quite easy and interesting.
Negative use of internet
Following are the negative uses or impact of internet on society are:
 Addiction to social media- Individuals of society has now become addicted to social
media and spend a large number of hours on Facebook, Instagram, twitter, etc. which has
reduced their efficiency and productivity.
 Creation of robotic society- Internet has led to a robotic society where hybrid skills are
going on like comments on Facebook, twitter, etc. but no one cares about actual problems
like environmental changes, etc. Interest has reduced the feelings of personal care,
emotional attachment and sensitivity hence, give birth to a robotic society (Ferguson and
et. al., 2019).
 Easy availability of illegal or inappropriate material- Internet can be easily used by
terrorist or other illegal groups to influence society which can lead to increase in crime
rate. Several inappropriate material and videos are also available on internet which is not
suitable and good for children, teenagers.
From the above points comparison can be made between both society and organisation as
both are facing negative and positive impact of internet. Positive impact includes better
communication facility while threat of hacking of personal data is negative aspect of internet
faced by both society and organisation.
2) Personal and privacy security while using internet
Threats faced by organisations and society when using internet
There are many threats and issues which can be faced by an organisation and society
while making using of internet or online services. Some of these threats are discussed below:
Botnet- It is basically a logical collection of internet connected devices like computers
and smartphones whose security is breached and control is ceded by any third party. Botnet are
used for the purpose of stealing data, sending spam and for malicious attack on whole network. It
4

can be easily used by terrorist or any other third party for any illegal purpose without the
knowledge of an user thus, it is a threat for both organisation and society as it led to increase in
criminal activities.
Hacking- It is generally a process of identifying weakness in computer systems or
networks to exploit or make irrelevant use of someone else data or information. Cracking of
password algorithm to gain illegal access in a system for the purpose of some malicious activity
or for fulfilling any illegal goal is a example of hacking. Ones the account or network gets
hacked, it provide easy asses to hacker to steal any sensitive or important information of any
individual or organisation. Thus, hacking is a threat for both individual and organisation as
disclosure of any personal information can create many issues (Rosemann, 2019).
Virus- It is a malicious software program get downloaded into device of an internet user
without user's knowledge and lead to many malicious actions. It slow down the speed of
computer or network and sometime can also lead to freeze of systems which creates huge threats
and risk for E-business and make use of online web site inconvenient.
Security measures that can be adopted while using internet
Internet has provided many facilities and services but at the same time it has increased
the threat of cyber crimes and other issues like hacking of personal information. Some security
measures are there which can be implemented by an organisation or individual to safeguard their
personal information from theft and to eliminate other threats on internet (Eyre and Ellison,
2019).
Encryption- It is a process that is used for encoding a message or information in a code
language that can be assessed by authorized party only thus, secure data from theft of third party
and also reduce risk of other threats. Thus, this technique is used for safeguard of data and
information from botnet and hacking(Ways to prevent botnet malware, 2019).
Antivirus- It is basically a software used for scanning and removing viruses from
computer or network system. Antivirus protect a computer system from malware, viruses
phishing attacks and also eliminates other threats. Some examples of best antivirus are Avast,
Avira, Norton, etc.
Use of strong password– An organisation or individual must make use of a strong
password to reduce the chances of hacking. A password must be a combination of alphabets,
numbers and symbol which is difficult to predict through any third or unauthorised party.
5

3) Comparison of features and applications of communication providers
Communication service providers are those that provide transportation of information
electronically like a telecommunication service provider. Unified communication refers to a
service model which deliver or provide different telecom or communication software,
applications or services over global network (Foxworth, Hashey and Sukhram, 2019). For this
report two unified communication providers are selected which are as follows:
EE (Everything Everywhere)– It is a British mobile network operator and internet
service provider of UK. EE has its headquarter in Hatfield in UK. It is the largest mobile network
operator in UK, with around 29.6 million customers and it was acquired by BT group in 2016.
Vodafone- It is a British multinational telecommunication conglomerate having its
headquarter in London, UK. Vodafone ranked 4th in number of mobile customers in 2018.
Vodafone is short form of voice data fone.
Similarities between both the organisation :
 Both Vodafone and EE are making use of best security features to protect the data and
personal information of its customers.
 Best technology is used by both organisation to reduce problem of traffic in network.
Comparison of features and application
Following are the features and applications of Vodafone and EE communication
provider :
Basis Vodafone EE
Features  Vodafone is providing is having
better administrators ability to
intelligently route and control
traffic through making use of
different world wide networking
software.
 Vodafone is providing facility of
cloud storage to protect and store
information and data of customers
for long period of time (PArrIS
 EE is a leading mobile
network of UK as it has
consolidated every aspect
of communication and
make use of updated and
modernized contact centre
to stay sync with its
customer base other callers.
EE has provided many
feature like high volumes
6

and ESTrADA, 2019).
 Strong data encryption are used by
Vodafone to protect information
while it is in transit. Use of
Firewall protection, packet
filtering and secure fiber is made
by Vodafone to provide best
telecommunication services to its
customers.
of calls, track caller
interactions and many
more.
 EE is also providing best
security for safeguarding
information of its
customhouse. It is making
use of firewalls, and other
antivirus to protect its data
(Rather and Ganaie, 2019).
Applications Vodafone is making use of efficient
applications for providing expertise in
connectivity and for delivering best
services to its customers which will
ensure its progress (Unified
communication solutions for business,
2019). The different applications provided
by Vodafone includes:
 Unified communication that
provide best mix of technology to
address specific business needs.
Vodafone provide best
interlinking between services,
people, applications, clods and
network around the world.
 Conferencing and collaborations
application provide an effective
borderless business
communication to customers of
Vodafone.
EE provide most of new
technology and best way of
working ( EE, 2019). The different
applications provided by EE
includes :
 4G network for providing
fastest speed to its
customers within UK.
 EE always remain one step
ahead of its competitors,
and they are the first who
launched 4GEE and 4G+
applications which has
doubled the speed of
internet.
 It provides an application
which is providing calling
and texting facility over
Wi-Fi and without any
need of mobile signal.
7

Effective communication is necessary for every business organisation for its development
and easy flow of operations. A suitable communication provider will provide efficient channel
through which an organization can easily deliver or communicate message with its employees,
business partner and customers. A unified communication provider is useful for an organization
as it will provide a cheap and effective promotion through providing assess to different sites and
web browser (Lach and Pollard, 2019).
From the above two organisations i.e. Vodafone and EE, Vodafone is providing better
services and more opportunity for a business organization as Vodafone is operating in global
level thus, provide better assess to customers across the world. Vodafone has developed best
techniques to solve the problems of huge traffic over network thus, provide an uninterrupted
assess to network without any delay. Cloud facility and security provided by Vodafone is also
very effective which keeps data and information of customers safe for a longer period of time.
Collaborations and conferencing facility provided by Vodafone will reduce of cost of travelling
for an organisation through providing facility of online meeting and conferencing.
CONCLUSION
From this report it can be concluded that internet plays an important role for both
organization and society in today's digital world. Internet provide easy reach of businesses to
target customers and develop better communication between them. Internet has provided better
education facility and integration between different societies across the borders. Internet also
have negative impact like hacking and steeling of sensitive data of individuals. Different threats
like botnet, viruses, etc. are also created by internet. Use of security measures like antivirus,
encryptions, etc. are made to reduce the threats of internet. At last it can be concluded that every
business organization needs a unified communication provider to easily communicate with
stakeholders.
8

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Eyre, J. R. and Ellison, L. A., 2019. Navigating Heritage Stewardship in the Digital Age. Public
Engagement and Education: Developing and Fostering Stewardship for an
Archaeological Future, p.237.
Ferguson, M. and et. al., 2019. Knowledge Is Power: Improving Outcomes for Patients, Partners,
and Professionals in the Digital Age. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest
Groups. 4(1), pp.140-148.
Foxworth, L. L., Hashey, A. and Sukhram, D. P., 2019. Writing in the Digital Age: An
Investigation of Digital Writing Proficiency Among Students With and Without
LD. Reading & Writing Quarterly, pp.1-13.
Gray, C. and Palaiologou, I. eds., 2019. Early Learning in the Digital Age. SAGE Publications
Limited.
Lach, P. and Pollard, E., 2019. Visualizing History in the Classroom: A Faculty-Librarian
Partnership in the Digital Age. New Review of Academic Librarianship, (just-accepted),
pp.1-16.
Mosweu, O. and Ngoepe, M., 2019. Skills and Competencies for Authenticating Digital Records
to Support Audit Process in Botswana Public Sector. African Journal of Library,
Archives & Information Science. 29(1). pp.17-28.
PArrIS, H. and ESTrADA, L. M., 2019. Digital Age Teaching for English Learners. The
Handbook of TESOL in K‐12, pp.149-162.
Preeshl, A., 2019. Reframing Acting in the Digital Age: Nimbly Scaling Actor Training in the
Academy. Routledge.
Puchner, M., 2019. Communications Skills in a Digital Age. Collaboration, Communications,
and Critical Thinking: A STEM-Inspired Path across the Curriculum, p.117.
Rather, M. K. and Ganaie, S. A., 2019. Information Seeking Models in the Digital Age.
In Advanced Methodologies and Technologies in Library Science, Information
Management, and Scholarly Inquiry (pp. 279-294). IGI Global.
Rosemann, M., 2019. Structuring in the Digital Age. In The Art of Structuring (pp. 469-480).
Springer, Cham.
Son, B. K., 2019. Integrated e-Learning Paradigm in the Twenty-First Century: Management
Education. In Learning Technologies for Transforming Large-Scale Teaching,
Learning, and Assessment (pp. 35-51). Springer, Cham.
Online :
EE. 2019 [Online]. Available Through: <https://ee.co.uk/>
How internet impact society positively and negatively. 2019 [Online]. Available Through:
<http://www.klientsolutech.com/how-internet-impact-on-society-positively-and-
negatively/>
9

Positive and Negative Impact of Internet on Business Operation. 2018. [Online]. Available
Through: <https://www.yosaki.com/internets-impact-on-business-operations-
interactions/>
Unified communication solutions for business. 2019 [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.vodafone.com/business/solutions/unified-communications>
Ways to prevent botnet malware. 2019 [Online]. Available Through: <https://www.avast.com/c-
botnet>
10