Book excerpt: The Web is an exciting but unstable place to do business. The potential rewards are high but so are the risks, and the effective management of these risks 'online' is likely to be the greatest business enabler or destroyer of the next decade. Information security is no longer an issue confined to the IT department - it is critical to all operational functions and departments within an organization. Nor are the solutions purely technical, with two-thirds of security breaches caused by human error, management controls and processes. Risk to the integrity, availability and confidentiality of e-business activities comes in many forms - fraud, espionage, viruses, spamming, denial of service - and the potential for damage or irretrievable loss is very real. The Secure Online Business Handbook is designed as a practical guide for managers in developing and implementing appropriate strategies for online risk management. The contributions in this fully revised and updated new edition draw on a wide range of expertise and know-how, both in IT and in other disciplines such as the law, insurance, accounting and consulting. Security should not be an afterthought in developing a strategy, but an integral part of setting up sustainable new channels of communication and business.