Firewalls

■ Substantial communication cost reductions: With easy electronic

communication, documentation and transaction costs can be

impressively decreased. Moreover, inexpensive network facilities

such as the Internet offer low-cost worldwide communication,

ahead of private leased lines or remote dial-up access.

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17.2 Increasing risk on extranets and intranets

In today’s harsh competitive climate, though ultimately important

for business, this openness is not risk free, as the following few

examples show:

■ For European companies, security fears remain the biggest

inhibitor to expansion of e-commerce: 69% cite this problem

according to industry analysts.

■ Eighty ...