Protecting the confidentiality of corporate information, preventing unauthorised access and defending the network against attacks remain primary concerns of network security professionals today. What have changed are the precise areas of vulnerability that challenge today's networks - the different levels of trusted users, the sophistication level and quantity of attacks, and the ease with which attacks can be launched. Security professionals and analysts agree that their troubles have only just begun. In fact, the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT*) states that an estimated 83,000 attacks occurred globally in 2002, while in the first three quarters of 2003 alone, nearly 115,000 attacks occurred, which has risen from just above 5,000 in 1999. Attacks that are increasing in number and sophistication are placing networks in an extremely vulnerable position that will continue to be a challenge made worse by several key trends.

By Peter Crowcombe at SC Magazine.

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