Efficiency must be balanced with security

Networks will be bigger and faster in future but they may not be safer. Last month, scientists from US institutions Caltech and Cern transferred data from California to Geneva at an average rate of 6.25 gigabits per second. This is 10,000 times faster than a typical home broadband connection. With the next generation internet - IPv6 - just around the corner, Wans are getting quicker and this is good news. However, new risks and additional responsibilities require a rethink on how we manage network performance.

Millions of PCs were infected in the UK this month by a family of internet worms exploiting a loophole in Microsoft's Windows operating systems.

One variant of the worm, Sasser D, was said to have scanned the internet so aggressively for computers to infect that networks slowed down inexorably as they became congested with data, in a similar way to how denial-of-service attacks work. Many businesses' systems simply ground to a halt as a result.

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