These high-speed services are causing sleepless nights for network administrators because they open a host of security issues that weren't a concern when remote workers dialed in to a network with a computer modem and a regular phone line. You aren't coming in through dial-up, so you aren't getting a new IP address every time. You've got an end point with a defined, publicly routable address. Hackers and mischief makers have more targets to shoot at as cable modems and DSL soar in popularity. Businesses and consumers are signing up for broadband services to speed their access to servers, company networks, and the Internet.
Cable modems lead the market, but they're mainly a consumer service with few business customers.
DSL got off to a slow start because telephone companies faced a more difficult and costly challenge to upgrade their networks. But the pace is picking up as the service becomes more widely available. The Yankee Group says the number of DSL subscribers in the United States will grow from around 300,000 last year to about 3.3 million in 2002 to 7 million in 2004. Price is one reason DSL is taking the commercial market by storm. One telephone company-provided alternative, ISDN, took more than a decade to become available and affordable to small businesses.