TRUST may be a condom brand here, but Computer Associates' eTrust offers protection of a different kind--that of end-to-end security solutions for e-business networks.

As the high-profile cyber attacks on Internet marquee names such as Amazon.com, Yahoo!, eBay and E*Trade have shown, the networks that keep the Net economy running unfortunately can still be quite vulnerable to security threats. This can run the gamut of a hacker actually penetrating defenses and implanting malicious content, or persistent spurious requests as in the case of the denial of service attacks that tied up the servers of the above-mentioned Net biggies.

One good thing, however, that might have come out of those high-profile attacks is that e-businesses now have a heightened awareness on the need for security.

"Security should be a part of the business plan. It is one of the fundamental things you need to succeed in e-business," stressed Lloyd Tanaka, CA's eTrust product marketing manager.

"I'm sure that companies that never thought of security before are now thinking about it because of these attacks," added Richard Jacobson, senior Internet analyst at International Data Corp. Asia Pacific.

As a direct response to the rash of cyber attacks in February, CA is offering the eTrust Intrusion Detection solution as the best end-to-end defense for e-businesses. One of its features is "unobtrusive blocking" technology that is supposed to prevent the entry of inappropriate traffic, including malicious code. For example, in the case of a DOS attack, the machines of innocent users can be recruited for attacks through so-called zombie software that are implanted in them. While no product is actually capable of directly preventing a DOS attack, intrusion detection can help minimize the recruitment of computers for these attacks, as well as alerting a company to security intrusions.

For example, Tanaka said that early detection of a DOS attempt would help an e-business site realize that it is already under attack so that it can take appropriate action such as load balancing or distributing traffic among several servers.

CA also offers its Security Integrity Services team to help companies assess and plan their readiness to meet the security demands of offering an e-business.

"They can go in and stress test systems. They can handle the methodology, all with an e-business focus," Tanaka said. "A company should ask in the wake of these attacks: 'Can this happen to me?' On the other hand, if they are thinking of starting an e-business, they should know the security issues that they must address before going into e-commerce."

Tanaka, however, acknowledged that security solutions providers such as CA must perform a balancing act. This means promoting awareness on the importance of security without resorting to scaremongering.