The Internet is a growing and continually evolving creature that will live on in perpetuity. As such, it would be wise to ponder the business, legal and ethical issues that might affect your business. Whatever is written and published online could be there forever. Imagine the millions of web pages that will be stored online and in the caches of web servers. If you want to get a feel for how much data is already sitting out there, have a look at the Wayback machine and check out archives of other websites and view pages that were created decades ago.

Security and privacy concerns along with new regulatory issues will become more prevalent in the coming years.  The escalation of computer related crime has undermined trust. You need to consider not only YOUR security, but also your place in the online community and how it affects the security of others (customers, partners, vendors).

Once your reputation is tarnished, it is very hard to restore. This means that vigilance is crucial. It’s no crime to be hacked or infected with a virus: this happens to almost every business at some stage. What can be very damaging is to get a reputation for continually being hacked and infected. This can give the impression that your business is badly organised and can be the cause of lost custom.

Websites have changed from being a kind of electronic billboard to being an integral part of many businesses. Your online reputation should reflect your real world standing and this is why IT governance is so important.