By Owen Ferguson

TORONTO — Security was the word on everyone's lips earlier this month at Internet World 2000 in Toronto. And with good reason — on the Monday the conference opened, the first of a string of denial-of-service attacks started stinging major Web sites in the United States.

The show floor displayed all the signs of an industry in the state of explosive growth, where vendors have to clamour for attention — huge, intricate booths, high-end flat screen displays and actors in silly corporate costumes. But at the same time, all types of security issues were being discussed to help companies stave off the wrong types of attention. These discusions included information on hacking, credit card theft, spamming and virus protection.

Bob Hansmann, director of marketing for the Internet outsourcing service at Cupertino, Calif.-based Trend Micro, an Internet anti-virus specialist, said virus attacks are on the increase. "Last year, we saw three major virus outbreaks in three months. Before that, we saw two major outbreaks in eight years," he says. "We're seeing 200 to 300 new viruses per year."

Hansmann spoke at a special luncheon dedicated to the discussion of Web security and virus threats in particular. He discussed the process of centralizing e-mail virus scanning, moving it from a user's computer to the server itself. According to a recent IDC survey, 29 per cent of ISP subscribers would be willing to pay extra for online, server-based virus scanning.

For Hansmann, that speaks volumes about how much online virus scanning is worth to ISPs. He noted that the ISP market is so volatile that the average provider loses eight to 10 per cent of their subscribers each month, while gaining the same number back from their competitors. "Most ISPs are becoming ASPs simply because providing connectivity is not enough, and this is one of the services they can provide," he said.

Hansmann stressed that centralized virus protection makes sense for the enterprise market as well. "Even though the big three U.S. banks have rules whereby anyone who disables their virus checker gets fired immediately, 60 per cent of their users' computers were hit by the Melissa virus," he said.

Darren Popham, vice-president of Kanata, Ont.-based desktop firewall software manufacturer Signal 9 Solutions Inc., had a slightly different take on the security discussion, focusing his presentation on personal security on the Internet. Popham used simple math to illustrate how big the threat to personal security on the Net really is.

"With over 200 million Internet users worldwide, psychology statistics indicate that four million might be considered antisocial," he said. "The Internet brings them to your front door."

Popham used the term AIDS to explain the four things that antisocial computer users want to do — Annoy, Infiltrate, Destroy and Steal.

Popham noted that the sheer magnitude of possible returns is making the last of those things — stealing — all the more attractive.

"The average theft results in $4,000, while the average corporate embezzler makes off with about $24,000," he said. "The average computer criminal, by contrast, makes off with $887,000 before their crime is discovered."

Popham identified four areas of home Internet security that ought to be considered — viruses, hacker attacks, data interception and data filtering. He pointed out that an effective piece of firewall software can protect against all of these threats.