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Network security is getting tougher and tougher, according to back-to-back Interop keynotes by security-vendor executives, but the two vendor companies are working on the problem.

IBM International Security Systems general manager Thomas Noonan and McAfee CEO Dave DeWalt spent much of their time describing the shifting nature of threats to businesses -- away from attacks on infrastructure and more on attacks on data.

Rather than bring down a Web site, says Noonan, attackers would rather grab customer's bank account numbers and passwords. "It's not the bank's fault if a customer's PC is compromised [and their information is stolen] but it is the bank's problem," he says.

DeWalt, just 45 days into his CEO job, listed a string of statistics about the growth of different categories of attacks against corporate data. "Pretty amazing," he said over and over after citing each new growth number.

Noonan urged businesses to first list their assets and assign them value, then identify vulnerabilities the key assets face and devise security strategies for them. He recommends outsourcing routine security needs to consultants and service providers. That is what IBM ISS offers.

DeWalt recommended a similar assessment process and to set up security strategies that are periodically reviewed and updated. He noted that McAfee offers free software to fight some of the threats he outlined to fight phishing and rootkits.

Both speakers noted that one of the biggest threats to businesses is not damage to networks or the value of data lost but rather the loss of a company's reputation if it becomes public that it has lost customer data.