You don't have to press readers very hard to learn that security is their top concern. The threats to information assets keep morphing, new technologies keep popping up, and the expectations for securing the network keep ratcheting up among customers, employees, business partners and investors.

To help you get a better handle on the issues shaping security, I'm staging the Network World Security Showdown at CeBIT America, which will be held June 18 to 20 in New York. The Security Showdown will be a head-to-head debate among leading security vendors. No PowerPoint presentations, no prepared speeches.

This will be my second Security Showdown. Two years ago, I convened the leading software vendors for what proved to be an intense discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of their products. This time, I'm challenging key players in the hardware market to answer unscripted questions about their corporate strategies and offerings.

Hardware is a fast-growing segment of the market. Appliance vendors are incorporating more functionality, helping reduce purchase and deployment complexity, particularly for remote offices. Box makers have tackled VPN, firewall, intrusion detection and prevention, and more. Also, there's tremendous change afoot, with mergers, partnerships and innovative products reshaping the industry.

So I'm challenging Cisco, Nokia, Symantec and Network Associates to send their top technical executives to the Network World Security Showdown on June 18 at the Jacob K. Javits Center.

Cisco and Nokia are leaders in the firewall/VPN and intrusion-detection markets. Network Associates and Symantec are not only top brand names in security, but also are making bold moves in the hardware market. Each has enhanced its hardware strategy with recent acquisitions. Network Associates snagged newbie IntruVert Networks for $100 million, while Symantec snagged Recourse Technologies for $135 million. Symantec also is expected to announce today a partnership with Sun to offer intrusion detection based on Sun's hardware.

I'm willing to add another vendor - perhaps one of the newer all-in-one-box security providers or another top hardware maker - based on your thoughts. Let me know who you want and what you want Network World Senior Editor Ellen Messmer and me to ask these vendors.

For now, Cisco, Nokia, Symantec and Network Associates - are you in?