MOUNDS VIEW, Minn. – Does crime pay? That's an open question. Does preventing it cost? That isn't. For instance, Cavion Plus said that client requests for online security assessments increased more than 500%, from 120 in 2002 to 663 in 2003. The trend is continuing. "We have nearly 1,000 security assessments scheduled to date, and we're projecting between 1,500 to 2,000 for the year," said Kevin Prince, product manager for Cavion Plus, the Internet services unit of Liberty Enterprises with about 1,300 client financial institutions. Of particular interest this year are remote vulnerability assessments, Prince said. But that's just one piece of the security puzzle. "Internet security needs to be thought of in a layered approach," he said. "There is not one device or piece of software that will prevent an Internet security breach. However, by instituting a combination of policies, assessments and properly configured and monitored hardware, the risk becomes very manageable."