Introduction
Amazon is a multinational investment that deals in end-user products and services. Jeffery Bezos serving as the president and founder launched the online (Amazon) presence in 1995. The organization had its bud stages and then evolved to become a leading investor in digital services, cloud computing, e-commerce technology, and AI. The company’s head office is located in Seattle, USA, and has over 600,000 employees worldwide. Given its robust distribution networks and supply chain, Amazon had a global presence and subsidiaries with revenue of over 290 billion dollars in 2019 (Jackson & Orebaugh, 2018). Amazon’s subsidiaries include Audible, Zappos, AbeBooks, Amazon.ae, Woot, Ring, Zoox, Goodreads, Amazon China, and CreateSpace. The organization leverages technology to enhance its logistics distribution, web services, merger, and acquisition models.
In 1997, Amazon’s initial public offering was $18 per share and spent over $2.6 billion for its online presence, digital streaming, and e-commerce. In 1998, the organization diversified into 18 categories and 150 subdivisions (Jackson & Orebaugh, 2018). Amazon migrated to online marketing harnessing web data to enhance product cost, locating storage facilities to effective logistics, and exploring shipment designs. Beyond the e-commerce market, Amazon has presented innovative programs designed to integrate public space, innovation, and payment (Arrieta et al., 2019). The management moved from book rentals to other services areas to suit consumer needs. The company organized its patent trademark of ‘1-click checkout’ in 1999 to enhance customer service experience via digital streaming and e-commerce. In 2009, the management adopted cloud computing (SaaS) solutions to expand its grip on small business partnerships (Arrieta et al., 2019). By 2016, a business partnership agreement was signed between Amazon and BigCommerce, signaling the advent of substantial commercial sales, drone delivery network, and digital presence.
Business Profile
Amazon started as an online bookstore providing shared clicks for its end users. The organization launched its services via digital platforms and offered discounts to attract willing customers. The company’s head office is located in Seattle, USA, and has over 600,000 employees worldwide (Tou et al., 2019). Amazon serves end-users, content designers, suppliers, and business enterprises. Amazon’s organogram relies on corporate structure, business flexibility, and management stability. Jeff Bezos is the chairperson at Amazon, while Brian Olsavsky acts as the SVP & CFO. Amazon’s directors include Jeff Wilke, Jeff Blackburn, Andy Jassy, Dave Limp, Wei Gao, Jay Carney, Beth Galetti, and David Zapolsky. The company has operational heads at its sub-divisional levels for effective management and productivity. Amazon strategically retails products to end-users as its primary activity. The organization diversified into other services-oriented investments such as Whole Foods Market, Zappos, Kiva Systems, PillPack, Inc., and Twitch Interactive.
The organization generates profit via product sales, advertising services, cloud programs, and subscription investments. The firm’s business segments include North America, International, and Amazon Web Services. Amazon engages primarily in retail merchandise, digital content, consumer electronics, Amazon Prime, logistics delivery, Web video, Web services, Amazon Kindle stores, Amazon publishing, and cloud computing (Alqahtani & Gull, 2018). Amazon Web Services includes cloud solutions that offer digital resources for on-demand end users. The company leverage shared resources for efficient digital performance. For example, Amazon utilizes a combination of IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS architecture to enhance data storage, transfer, and security. The management established the EC2, a component of cloud services for virtual integration, service interface, and efficient scalability options. The company also provided storage services, networking architecture via AWS, and cloud computing technology. The retail products are distributed via online platforms and drone delivery services. Amazon stock, denoted AMZN, is a top gainer on the NASDAQ exchange (Ozo & Ubaka, 2015). AMZN sells at $3,294, with a market capitalization of over 1.65 trillion (Jackson & Orebaugh, 2018). The organization leverages customer satisfaction to provide dynamic service delivery as it undergoes continuous modification to suit business, economic, social, technological, and psychological trends. Amazon creates a brand impact by adopting a mix of differentiation and positioning strategies against its competitors.
The competitors include Kohls, Costco, Wayfair, Macys, Target, Bestbuy, Homedepot, Apple, Walmart, Netflix, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM. The rivalry includes investments in retail stores, web services, cloud computing, and subscription services. The management established an empire around by providing extraordinary service to customers while leveraging on distribution efficiency. Amazon’s initial objective was to remove the intermediary in the supply chain. As a result, the founder leased a large warehouse in South Seattle. Amazon is an MSP, supplying products, services, and innovations that connect customers. Becoming an MSP has been a progressive yet reliable technique (Ozo & Ubaka, 2015). The firm enhanced its initial technique of offering books online by expanding into other company sectors. The online retail market is fragmented, with large investors in smallholdings and retailers. Potential players can establish e-commerce websites without much problem. To compete effectively in the online retail market, Amazon adapts to modifications in innovation. The modification strategies include software application systems, hardware gadgets, security systems, or cloud architecture and service distribution platforms.
Amazon’s E-commerce Operations
E-commerce is a strategic marketing plan wrapped as a business model that reveals patterns for creativity, value, delivery, and service, social and cultural modifications. Based on the definition, e-commerce relies on several business models to create an online presence for daily transactions, trade, and exchange. The principles of e-commerce include B2B, B2C, C2B, and C2C (Jackson & Orebaugh, 2018). These principles leverage technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, data exchange, inventory management, data collection architecture, and internet banking. The growth of globalization has resulted in digitalization and advanced technologies (Chen et al., 2020). New principles have emerged as the electronic option to the traditional trade process. Operating in an extremely competitive economy, firms embrace new service designs. By implication, e-commerce became a reality with Amazon adopting digital innovation and cloud computing to enhance service delivery (Jackson & Orebaugh, 2018; Kuruwitaarachchi et al., 2019). Amazon migrated to online marketing harnessing web data to enhance product cost, locating storage facilities to effective logistics, and exploring shipment designs. Beyond the e-commerce market, Amazon has presented innovative programs designed to integrate public space, innovation, and payment. Amazon modified its supply chain using cloud computing architecture under the AWS model. Although online data tracking has generated global debate on information privacy, cyberstalking, and security, Amazon has maintained a positive stance on its deployment, use, and practices following global best practices.
The opportunities with Amazon’s e-commerce operations concerning ecology, social modifications, and technological changes offer systemic benefit over its competitors. The threat assessment at Amazon suggests their clear instructions in company choices on a short-term fix and long-term procedures (Fauska et al., 2013). Competitors within the e-commerce market concentrate on broadening services, product offerings, and social marketing positioning via digital presence. Amazon broadened its presence with the Kindle architecture when book sales were plunging, developing a new market to acquire and gain access to works of literature and books. Amazon presented ALEXA, a cloud-based search tool that reacts to customer queries. The strategy permits users to personalize the purchaser experience. Amazon’s e-commerce operations enhance service delivery and business procedures. The organization introduced the ‘one-click’ tool that streamlines customer needs and purchases. Under this strategy, customers can reorder products and compare prices with other platforms. The company’s return policy encourages customers to purchase without challenges. When product defects exist, customers are refunded, or products are replaced and compensations paid to customers. Such a loyalty program enhances.
Fraudulent cyber activities affect e-commerce due to laws governing the regions and geographical space. Trust in exchange deals and swindles is a severe issue with online trading due to payment concerns. In many scenarios, the purchaser is required to make payment and await product delivery. In such situations, buyers could be swindled, and tracing may be difficult. Therefore, Amazon bridges the gap in payment options by providing a unified platform that creates confidence and trust. The need for cybersecurity is a growing concern in a pervasive internet architecture. As a result, the organization deploys countermeasures to secure their investments, customer data, and payment details.
Amazon’s Needs for Cybersecurity
There has been huge data transfer, information exchange, and trade levels with the internet development. A wide array of commerce is performed using e-Commerce, consisting of online funds payments, supply chain management, online marketing, online order processing. Therefore, billions of dollars are transferred and exchanged via online platforms with complementary transaction details. Cybersecurity is the safeguarding of computer systems, servers, mobile phones, electronic systems, networks, and information from harmful attacks (Erin et al., 2020). It is likewise called InfoTech security or data security. Cybersecurity can be categorized into typical classifications such as network security, details security, application security, functional safety, end-user training, and recovery systems (Apau & Koranteng, 2019). This huge boost in e-commerce has caused a new generation of security risks that requires business investments to overcome.
Amazon’s cybersecurity needs must satisfy four essential requirements: privacy, integrity, authentication, and nonrepudiation. Regardless of these security steps, a firm could jeopardize information in transit through cyberattacks such as DoDs or phishing. These defects trigger the requirement to advance secured authorization and security measures such as PKI and digital signatures (Erin et al., 2020). Amazon cybersecurity needs triggered the deployment of digital signatures confirmation of information integrity, verification, and authentication. Such a system utilizes multiple key logs to secure messages of the sender and then decode such information. The recipient decodes encrypted information with a related passkey. The passkey is a secured architecture for online transactions, considering that two parties can validate each other’s identity and consequently minimize the possibility of fraud in the deal.
Technical attacks are among the most difficult kinds of cyberattacks in e-commerce. The hack targets websites or services hosted on servers that receive funds transfers using card payment entrances and data logs. E-commerce platform provides services and products via content drive commerce. The activities and operations conducted on a website showcase the investment contents of investors and shareholders (Kshetri, 2019). Therefore, business tools aid the management and control of backend and front ends channels. E-commerce backend includes web environments where the suppler uploads products and showcase services solutions. The frontend is the pay point or user interface for customers and end-users. The section includes choice tabs, delivery details, payment options, and signature authentication. These variables form the building blocks of an e-commerce engine. Amazon’s challenges include network security, card payment security, application authorization permit, endpoint authorization, identity management and control, cloud and mobile security (Kaur & Singh, 2015). Securing these platforms and processes ensures customer’s reliability to engage in funds transfer and order delivery.
Risk and Impact of Cyberattacks on Amazon’s Operations
Amazon’s web services provide a secured platform and associated services to their clients. With Amazon being an e-commerce, they deal with several risks such as system dependability, privacy issues, card fraud, and network disruption attacks. Network disruption attacks include malware attacks, phishing, and email hacking. Therefore, the SSL authentication layer provides an enhanced seal against anonymous or unauthorized login. Internet users handle their interactions by accessing different online sites that require personal details as login in parameters for verification and authentication. Amazon uses the TSL protocol to mitigate the impact of cybersecurity attach on clients information (Serrano et al., 2015). An essential condition on such websites is the security of details that are confidential to the end-users. The parameters are subject to verification and could be stolen, hacked, or blocked by fraudulent individuals. Thus, security threats from details input could affect business investments. In a comparable occurrence, Amazon suffered a technical problem on its India website that impacted its suppliers and sellers. The retailer was attacked by a bug, which triggered an information breach and exposed delicate financial data consisting of sales records and its supplier’s stock information. Having around 450,000 online suppliers and vendors, Amazon stated the problem was dealt with within a couple of hours. However, the precise figure of impacted members has not been reported.
Organizations like Amazon run the risk of falling into unlimited suits and ultimately stating personal bankruptcy when hackers take client information. A malware or an infection can eliminate or overwrite information in the database leading to big losses (Jovanovic et al., 2020). Information recovery takes time and might be an expensive procedure. Stolen Personal details might be utilized to damage you and your consumers. Hackers can utilize individual details for identity theft. Cybercriminals utilize clients’ information to purchase items in the black market, for this reason endangering their record of accomplishment. When consumers discover that their details have been exposed to hackers, they could cancel active orders and search for services in other places. Cyber-attacks can interrupt service activities. Cyberattacks such as a DDoS can ruin online operations and database. A DDoS attack could trigger the internet, which would cause huge financial loss and lawsuits (Torkura & Meinel, 2016). A cyber-attack triggers data loss consisting of clients’ details. Attackers can utilize this information to require ransom from such customers. Loss of clients’ information to hackers has led to the fall of many businesses consisting of billion-dollar companies in the monetary and health care market.
Conclusion
This paper evaluated the impact of cybersecurity on business investment. E-commerce has evolved from a traditional marketing pattern to a digitized online presence. The growth of globalization has resulted in digitalization and advanced technologies. New principles have emerged as the electronic option to the traditional trade process. Operating in an extremely competitive economy, firms embrace new service designs. With the advent of online digital platforms, data security has become an expensive business, with investments budgeting huge funds to secure their operations and databases. Consumer needs and safety has been the top priority of e-commerce investments, and Amazon is leading the charge with countermeasures against cyberattacks. Thus, a sustainable e-commerce platform can only be achieved with impregnable security architecture and effective end-user education.
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