When the latest Netscape Navigator 2.0 security vulnerability was discovered by Princeton University researchers in late March, Netscape announced they would provide a software fix within days. This was the third major Navigator 2.0 vulnerability to be discovered since the version was released. The discovery was widely acknowledged to be an important security flaw in the software. The reaction was quite different on another occasion. When security experts discovered a file containing 10,000 valid credit card numbers in a hacker's computer, local authorities said there was no real threat since none of the credit card numbers had been used.
Internet security is a fuzzy subject to the general business computing community.
It is quite clear, however, that there are major security issues to be understood and solved during any business connection to the Internet. Every system can achieve some level of security. The key is to attain a security level that is appropriate for the systems involved. A WWW page that represents your company to the world, but is not directly linked to any other internal systems requires a level of protection very different from the protection required for your corporate financial systems. This does not mean that your public page requires no protection.