Such a measure does not reduce the risk of an attack but does provide a mechanism to trigger a rapid response. Many B2B e-marketplaces are aggregations of competing companies, thus making them natural candidates for industrial espionage. The information that could be compromised depends upon the particular B2B market, and can include customer or supplier data, client lists, competitive research, or even employee records. To be prepared for such attacks, you'll need to obtain an appropriate level of assurance that the e-marketplace or outsourcing provider you choose has proper controls and procedures for security. They should be similar to what you implement to protect your own data and systems, and should mirror those we've listed for service providers.
Overlooking liabilities associated with providing shared infrastructure is also common.
If you are providing shared services or infrastructure that is accessed by many clients, you could be used as a third-party intermediary to launch an attack against one of the partners accessing your infrastructure. This is particularly true if you are acting as an aggregator of commerce connections. If you provide services to multiple businesses without planning for isolation, others may use you as an intermediary for industrial espionage. Likewise, any aggregator you use should be able to assure you that your data and networks are segregated from other participants. Our editors challenged network storage vendors and service providers to devise fault-tolerant storage solutions for two fictitious companies.