Metamodeling to Control and Audit E-Commerce Web Applications
Shi-Ming Huang, Jing-Shiuan Hua, Hartmut Will, and Jhen-Wei Wu
International Journal of Electronic Commerce,
Volume 17 Number 1, Fall 2012, p. 83-118.
Abstract: With the increasing popularity of e‐commerce, the growth potential of business is extraordinary; however, the path toward success can also be dangerous because of problems of quality control, security breaches, and e‐service failures. One of the problems is that business managers generally lack sufficient assurance that the controls over e‐processes are effective and efficient and that information announced to customers is correct and reliable. Powerful metamodeling is therefore required. The objective of this research is to develop an e‐process audit mechanism by applying automatic model checking to check consistency between e‐process flows implemented and those originally designed; to detect errors in the structure and contents of Web applications; and to assist the internal control and assurance managers with their frequent monitoring of the internal controls of Web applications. A prototype has been developed to evaluate the feasibility of the mechanism and has been applied in a real e‐commerce case. The results show that it proved useful for the internal control and assurance purposes in the case company.
Key Words and Phrases: E‐commerce audit, metamodeling, model checking, process consistency, Web application.