It's the small companies and the home users that we're concerned about. There are sharp divisions in the levels of security sophistication in Asia. South Korea has been Cisco's fastest-growing market in each of the past two years. Goh says companies must also implement proper practices to maintain the firewall. Forms of hacking also vary widely.
Some incursions come from pranksters intent solely on defacing a Web site.
Others come from those who want to make a political point, as in the recent attacks on Japanese government Web sites by Chinese groups protesting at conservatives' reinterpretations of the Nanjing Massacre. But the source of hacking attacks can be very tough to track. Goh says most incursions into Singapore computer systems come from sources in the West. Preventative action, of course, is better than reaction, but it can be costly. Whoever is offering the technology, the barrage of attacks suggests that the costs of e-commerce will rise as companies recognize the need for better security.