Security Concerns Affect Small Businesses As Well

Security consultants agree that any computer with a connection to the Internet,especially one that is "always on",creates new vulnerabilities for both small and large business.

Companies with a T1 or "any decent connection to the Net are connecting themselves to the world," said Larry Byrd, system engineering manager at Adcom, a Norcross, Ga.-based reseller that has done systems integration for a range of small businesses.

"We recommend a firewall and a router at minimum" to small businesses, he said.

After all, even small companies today have sophisticated networks, said Tom Gobeille, president of Network Computing Architects Inc., Bellevue, Wash. "A small business cannot afford a big [data] loss or bad publicity due to any type of vulnerabilities they have," he said. "They may be at greater risk than a larger company."

Ramp Networks Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., which relies on integrators to sell and maintain the bulk of its products, recently launched a new program called Small Office Security (SOS). Participants in SOS can get access to hacking prevention tips and a $25 rebate on Ramp's new Webramp 700s, a device that includes firewall, virtual private networking and content-filtering features.

The Webramp 700s conducts "stateful packet inspection," examining data packets to see if they originated from outside the firewall. "Stateful inspection does a couple of things above IP filtering, which is the traditional model of security," said John Humphreys, vice president of access products at Ramp.

The Webramp 700s costs $479 with a five-user license; the rebate is available with the purchase of a 25-user license.

Also targeting small business is NetGuard Inc.'s new Guardian SOHO NT, which provides network security for small businesses with up to 10 users connected to a Windows NT 4.0 server for file and print serving.

Guardian SOHO NT offers a full-featured firewall to protect the network and tools that allow small businesses to monitor their Internet connection with minimal training, said Charles Biggs, vice president of product marketing at NetGuard, Carrollton, Texas.

The product is available via download from the company's Web site; the cost is $199 for a five-user license and $299 for a 10-user license.

NetGuard's offering meets the needs of small businesses, which are becoming increasingly aware of the need for security but often cannot afford to pay thousands of dollars for a firewall and do not have the expertise to manage it, said Kathryn Korostoff, president of Sage Research, Natick, Mass. Outsourcing often is too costly for small businesses, she said.

"As a result, they really don't have a lot of options," Korostoff said. "Clearly there's a need for security-related products that are priced right and have ease of use that you don't need to be a trained security expert [to use]."Washington, D.C.

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