It's no secret that large U.S. businesses are in the crosshairs of foreign government entities and terrorists. According to Maj. Gen. William Lord, "China has downloaded 10 to 20 terabytes of data from the NIPRNet," the Department of Defense network used for transmitting sensitive information. It is only a matter of time before military and terrorist organizations target commercial organizations. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security recently warned of potential Internet attacks on the U.S. stock market and banking Web sites. Large businesses offer an attractive target and the potential impact is very high.

Known targets and threats
The Department of Defense secures its systems using world-class information security standards and layered controls, thanks in large part to an abundance of financial resources. Conversely, corporations have limited security budgets and can be weakened by