They need to be in constant contact with the customer. Now, installing a firewall is no more complex than installing a network server. We do WatchGuard, which is so easy that the geography teacher at Cheltenham Girls' School installed it himself. Nokia is the market leader, and other vendors include NetScreen, SonicWall and WatchGuard. Filtering routers offer a simpler alternative to full-blown firewalls.
Firewalls react to security threats when they arise.
It can also monitor staff use of the web and fix security threats automatically. Intrusion detection and testing are becoming more popular as companies try to be proactive about preventing hacking instead of just trying to block hackers when they arrive. Ecommerce and the web are spawning products for web reporting such as Radware, which monitors performance, availability and security. And ecommerce application servers are increasingly using super-secure 'trusted operating systems', including Pitbull from Argus, and Seos from Computer Associates. Proactive protection extends to scanning employees' email to check for viruses or content that is libellous, obscene or commercially sensitive.