Blog 7.1-IS Security

Their are five different types of threats that can effect a computer information system.  These threats include viruses, outside intruders, inside intruders, link to outside businesses, and natural disasters/accidents.  Viruses can take control of your computer and/or damage it and its contents.  At Ferrum Medical we use antivirus programs (ex. Norton Security) to protect our IS from various types of viruses, thus protecting our computers and network.  Outside intruders, such as hackers, are a threat because they can hack into our databases and draw information that could be used in malicious ways.  We are also able to protect information we send over the internet by encrypting it so outsiders are unable to determine what is being sent and recieved.  At Ferrum Medical we have physical access restrictions such as authentication, so that only certain information can be accessed by outside users and peoples personal information is not accessed by hackers.  Inside intruders, such as employees, can be a serious threat to an IS system cause they can tamper with payroll or even tamper with data that is necessary for daily use.  Through the use of authentication we can prohibit who gets on the on our local network, using access-control software we only allow employees to access files related to their work, and timed login that logs an employee out if they are away from the computer for a certain amount of time.  Link to outside businesses is a security risk because information between businesses is vulnerable to being intercepted by  hackers.  At Ferrum Medical we encrypt our information we send to such businesses as pharmacies and also send it through a VPN so it is protected going over the internet and to make sure no outsiders try to intercept our information and send a virus or something we install firewalls that prevent that from happening.  Natural disasters and accidents are other threats to a computer IS.  To help deal with or prevent this from happening we create a backup site in case ours goes down for any reason.  Also we have set up a disaster recovery plan, which spells out detailed procedures for recovering from systems-related disasters.

Blog 6.1-Web 2.0

Their are four pillars of Web 2.0 that can be utilized by businesses.  They consist of Utilizing the Web as a Platform, Harnessing Collective Intelligence, Leveraging the Data, and Implementing Innovative Web Capabilities.  Utilizing Web as a Platform allows peer to peer technology.  Software uses the network bandwidth of all users of the software to improve download performance.  Ferrum Medical is able to utilize the web as a platform by connecting to such things as the pharmacy's webpage and download information on available medicines, patients that need refills, etc.  Harnessing Collective Intelligence allows us to provide and contribute on the web, thus improving content.  Ferrum Medical can use their website to collect information from other doctors that have had more success on treating different illnesses and can use that information in our practice.  Leveraging the Data allows large databases containing tremendous amounts of useful information for making decisions.  At Ferrum Medical we can store patient information into databases so we can access them later when looking at their history or referring them to another practice. Implementing Innovative Web Capabilities allows the use of technology to gain a competitive advantage, scripting languages, allows simple use of web application development and reduces cost.  Such things as advertisements up supporting our business online could bring in more patients or even just creating small interactive applications that bring traffic to our website.

Blog 5.3-B2E Electronic Commerce

     When an employee or even a patient needs to access their information on our server, they use something called an intranet. From their home office computer or any laptop they can log onto out website and securely access sensitive information. Then through the interconnectivity of a VPN or virtual private network accessed after establishing a connection to the internet, they can access anything they are given access to under their profile. Their data is stored on our home server and after they have gained admittance and after having passed through all the necessary gateways.

Blog 5.2-B2B Electronic Commerce

     At Ferrum Medical, when a physician logs on to our secure website, they can connect to any pharmacy using our extranet. The physician, being a client uses our server as a proxy between our facility and the pharmacy's server. This client, connects to the internet through a secure firewall to then send and receive sensitive data across a VPN or virtual private network. They after this secure data travels through the VPN it gets verified by the pharamacy's firewall and then get ferried along to its destination, a drug log on the pharmacy server.

Blog 5.1-Critique Your Competitor's E-Commerce Website

To make Ferrum Medical as successful as possible we have decided to make a webpage. Before doing so we wanted to look at other websites that are successful with their websites.


www. facebook.com

Rule 1: They provide information on how to create your own account and easy methods on how to use the site.

Rule 2: it is aesthetically pleasing, it allows you to log in and gain access to your customized page and look at your friends page and comments.

Rule 3: The website is responsive and quick making it efficient. It is also user friendly, so that many people not just computer elite can utilize the site.

Rule 4: It has various multimedia venues and has ways of keeping the user interested.

Rule 5: They have a lot of advertising on the page allowing viewers to see what they might want to purchase.

Rule 6: Information about the site and its capabilities are easy to see and follow.


By accessing a successful webpage we are able to use the same rules and apply them to our Ferrum Medical webpage. Allowing for our business to become more successful and well known.

Blog 4.4-Entity Relationship Diagram

     In this Entity Relationship Diagram, there are three main Entities : Customer, Invoice, and Product.
In each entity their are different attribute types, such as name, address, phone #, etc. A specific name such as John Smith is an Attribute. Each entity is viewed as having a table, each containing rows and columns. The rows being records and columns being attributes. Each attribute has its own data type dependent upon the type of information, such as name being text and phone # being integers. The customer entity contains attribute types such as Name, Address, and gender, it also contains a customer key, and ID number that is specific to the individual so it can be accessed by the other entities. The Product entity contains attribute types such as the type of product, the price and the Product key. Like the customer key it is a reference key used to compare and correlate data in other entites.

Blog 4.3-Packet Switching Technology

      There are many users online all the time and data is being sent and received simultaneously. There was a need for a way in which to send information in a way that computers can understand that can be translated into usable information. The TCP allowed different messages to be sent over the internet via packets in any order that are reassembled later. When computer B wants to share info to computer D in the picture above, the binary data of the message sent from B is broken into manageable packets and delivered to D. The message sent from the computer B, uses TCP to send its message to computer C using package switching. The IP sets the format for the packet and the location it is to be sent and the IP information tells the router where this location is, then sends it. The packets travel independently and arrive out of order. Each packet has a header and it contains the destination and sending IP address as well as the order in which the packets are organized.