Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Security Handbook

Secure Communication

One of the most complex tasks in the IT industry is ensuring the highest level of security for communication over non-secure networks. The simplest solution is to cut off the local network from the publicly available ones. However, this "solution" is the least attractive. It's difficult to imagine life without your computer connected to the Internet.

On the other hand, many companies have offices spread out over different buildings and cities—and all over the world. It would be very expensive to physically create private networks for these companies. There should be a way to communicate over the Internet so that nobody can see or alter network traffic. And there is the way—secure communication, which is based on three principles: ...