The internet’s beginnings in defense sector and how internet security may be the next big thing…

I remember very clearly in the mid eighties working in an office where our computer tech person working on a data base program for us told me about the World Wide Web and how it was going to change the world.

That was the voice of opportunity speaking to me, but it was not something I really understood how significant it was until years later.

The internet- the web has and will impact human history on a monumental scale in terms of how we have become dependent on it as a research resource, global affordable information and communication tool, community and social and entertainment tool and as well as a significant commerce tool. The Internet is a collection of communities that now satisfies basic human community needs.

We talk to “friends” email friends, watch entertainment, buy stuff, sell stuff, exchange personal and business ideas and info, build virtual business, find and read news, research about recent medical breakthroughs….. And so on. It is an integral part of the personal and business experience on a day to day basis.

It has become part of the human evolution and gives pause to an anthropological perspective of human history comparables.
Looking at its beginnings – when in 1969- 1970 four host computers were connected together into the initial ARPANET- created by DARPA / ARPA --Defense / Advanced Research Project Agency- a new department within the Department of Defense. DARPA’s mission and creation was to position and assure the U.S’ lead in technology for military capabilities and to prevent technological surprise from adversaries.
Today’s adversaries are terrorists, and they are very adept at using the world wide web of today to their advantage in their plot to destroy the US


The evolution of the internet and the web from its beginnings and the first email sent in 1971 could be compared to mans first beginnings – how we evolved and developed language, followed by the creation of the information highways ( tribal movement) and commerce and trade, content ( comparable to art and culture) , search technology , peer to peer community ( building of towns ) , globalization ( our new world explorers) , building of bigger and bigger communities such as Myspace , that has become the biggest city on the internet .
So what is next?
Following the path of human history – we will need more and better infrastrucure, there will be more takeovers and acquisitions and wars. War on the internet may evolve into new internet security issues above and beyond viruses and worms.
New vulnerabilities have been found in wireless access.

If the beginnings of the internet were in the US Defense Department –with today’s global eCommerce economy and recent deals with US companies ( Google (GOOG) and YouTube ) in excess of $1 billion Us dollars –the US economy and defense are heavily reliant on its continued growth and security.
I think personally, the next big phase is security on the net and how to protect this virtual world of cities and empires


From an investors perspective it goes back to the Defense and Internet security sector and who will be the technology leaders ?...

Some examples of internet and network security stocks- Computer Associates, CyberGuard, CyberSource, Check Point Software, Computer Sciences, Entrust, Internet Security Systems, Novell, Netscreen Technologies, Rainbow Technologies, RSA Security, SCM Microsystems, Secure Computing, Safenet, SRA, Sybase, Symantec, Transaction Systems Architects, Watchguard Technologies.

for more info as well- check out and do your own research on our current list of stocks in homeland security at
www.homelanddefensestocks.com