An Internet presence opens an organization up to the world. Yet, this easy availability of information can also represent a liability in terms of privacy concerns and internal system integrity. Security breeches may range from the simple curious probing of a site to the outright malicious destruction of information. Any well designed and maintained WWW service must balance the need for security with the goal of access. These security issues were very important to the people who helped frame the objectives of the Internet Testbed.

Early in the Testbed, CTG hosted a one day seminar discussing security on the Internet. The seminar brought together nearly 200 government managers to hear security experts explain some of the key issues. The focus was on raising awareness about security issues and ways to manage security risks. The presenters emphasized the need to become aware of security threats and the ever increasing complexity of security issues. The audience was exposed to many available technologies as well as some of the organizational issues that must be considered when implementing a security plan.

• Internet security as part of the overall security plan
• Risk assessment: the foundation for security planning
• Securing the server and LAN
• Methods for securing data transmission
• Methods for testing the security solution
• Monitoring the system/preparing for and responding to a break-in