Importance of Security
The Internet has undoubtedly become the largest public data network, enabling and facilitating both personal and business communications worldwide. The volume of traffic moving over the Internet, as well as corporate networks, is expanding exponentially every day. More and more communication is taking place via e-email; mobile workers, telecommuters, and branch offices are using the Internet to remotely connect to their corporate network; and commercial transaction completed over the Internet, via the World Wide Web, now account for large portions of corporate revenue.

While the Internet has transformed and greatly improved the way we do business, this vast network and its associated technologies have opened the door to an increasing number of security threats from which corporations must protect themselves. Although network attacks are presumably more serious when they are inflicted upon business that store sensitive data, such as personal, medical or financial records, the consequences of attacks on any entity range from mildly inconvenient to completely debilitation-important data can be lost, privacy can be violated, and several hours, or even days, of network downtime can ensue.

Despite the costly risks of potential security breaches, the Internet can be one of the safest means by which to conduct business. For example, giving credit card information to a telemarketer over the phone or a waiter in a restaurant can be more risky than submitting the information via a Web site, because electronic commerce transactions are usually protected by security technology.

General fear and suspicion of computers still exists and with that comes a distrust of the Internet. This distrust can limit the business opportunities for companies, especially those that are completely Web based. Thus, companies must endorse security policies and instate safeguards that not only are effective, but are also perceived as effective.

Legislation is another force that drives the need for network security. Governments recognize both the importance of the Internet and the fact that substantial portions of the world’s economic output are dependent on it. However, they also recognize that opening up the world’s economic infrastructure to abuse by criminals could cause major economic damage. National governments are therefore developing laws intended to regulate the vast flow of electronic information. Businesses that do not have demonstrable security policies to protect their data will be in breach of these standards and penalized accordingly.