The growing use of the Internet for both business-to-business and business-to-consumer transactions, and the concomitant integration of Internet/intranet technologies into corporate IT environments, brings with it a danger: the increasing potential for unauthorized and undetected remote access to confidential, sensitive company data. Many businesses view implementation of an integrated online security solution as the paramount issue facing them today.

Or do they? It's true that the importance of improved Internet security gets a lot of lip service from the business community, but there seems to be little enthusiasm among companies to "put their money where their mouth is."

"It's a funny paradox," declared an Internet service provider I spoke with recently. "You'll read in the trade press about how security is the number one concern of corporate networking folks for getting their Internet connection in. But when it comes down to how many actually are willing to buy it - to pay the price for security - it's relatively small.... There's this big illusion that security is the number one concern, but companies are reluctant to pay for it when they actually see the price tag."

Nevertheless, the design and implementation of effective Internet security measures is crucial to the success of an overall corporate IT security program. So the issue is achieving cost-effective online security solutions. Leading professionals and authorities in online security will be gathering this month in Tokyo to discuss this vital topic.

CyberSecurity@Tokyo '97 is scheduled for July 14 and 15 at Tokyo's Royal Park Hotel. Computing Japan is proud to join with PC Week, Business Computer News, and others as a media sponsor for this event.

Topics to be covered in this two-day conference range from corporate policy and legal issues to system implementation and effective security tools. Among the presentations will be sessions on designing a corporate Internet security policy, the legal implications of a security breach, Internet security program management and awareness, electronic commerce issues, Java as a security technology, the use of firewalls and restricted routers, and cryptography tools. There will be over a dozen speakers, including Stephen Cobb (director, US National Computer Security Association), Toshiyuki Minami (senior advisor, Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications), Mark Cullimore (director, Visa International), Shigeo Kaizu (manager, DEC Japan), Bharath Ram (director, RSA Japan), and Terrie Lloyd (president, LINC Media).

The real challenge for the Internet industry is not the development of more complex, higher level security services. Rather, it is to provide mid-level security services that are easy to implement and cost-effective enough so that small and midsize firms can use them. Attendees at the CyberSecurity forum will learn "how to implement cost-effective Internet security strategies and avoid a potential catastrophe." Can your company afford not to attend?

For more information about CyberSecurity@Tokyo '97, see the ad on page 5 or follow the Web to http://www.fbma.com.

WM. Auckerman