Unfortunately, good security can be expensive to implement. However the prices of security products are dropping rapidly as security technology advances. For example, Internet Scanner 5.0 from Internet Security Systems (see the article "Security Crackdown" [Shotland and Taschek, March 1998]) will scan the network for breaches of security as well as potential security risks. This product and others like it are exciting because they include a large number of security checks and improved reporting features, trend analysis, and the ability to drop security reports into any ODBC compliant database. All of this is available for about $2,700 for a 30-node license.

Although network monitoring is only part of a security solution, it is an important part whose technology has been improving rapidly. Even though it is often difficult to cite a specific percentage of a web site's budget that should be devoted to meeting security needs because of all of the variables involved, Don Elledge, manager of the Distributed Computing Infrastructure Group at DeLoitte & Touche LLP, as quoted in Daniel P. Dem's article "Protect or Serve" (April 1997), suggests that 10 to 15 percent is not unreasonable. This article goes on to give some excellent cost and sizing information for implementing secure web sites at InsWeb, Pennsylvania State University, and The Internet Company.

For more product information look at James Taschek's article, "Taking the Internet Private" (Jan. 1998), for pricing and comparison of extranet security products priced from $3,995 for a hardware firewall to...