Web Gateways, as the name suggests, provide access to corporate LAN assets (or the entire corporate LAN) via the Internet. Of course, this requires that the LAN, itself, be continuously connected to the Internet via T1, ISDN, DSL, cable, etc. Typically, a Web Gateway is implemented in one of two ways:

• A custom Web Application is designed to seamlessly integrate with a specific application on the corporate LAN. An example of this would be a Web Application that directly inputs data into a Database Application, such as an ordering system, hosted on the company's LAN. In this case, the Web Application/LAN Database Application interface limits access to the corporate LAN to that particular Database Application, alone.

• The use of a 'tunneling protocol', such as Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) or IPSEC, is used to create a Virtual Private Network (VPN) between a remote client and the company's LAN via the Internet. In this case, the remote user would log into the corporate LAN as if he/she were seated at one of the LAN's workstations.

The advantages of this kind of structure are obvious — flexibility, cost-reduction, increased productivity, central administration — to name but a few. The primary liability, that is, security, is equally obvious. The trick, then, is to balance the risk of exposing a part or all of your corporate LAN to the possibility of intrusion against the productivity and cost-reduction gains realized.

This is where e-QualIT's experience comes into play. We have the expertise to make use of the latest router, firewall, encryption, and VPN technologies to make your Web Gateway as secure as possible. We also have the good sense to make use of regular, sytem backups to provide easy restoration of service in the event of intrusion or natural disaster.