The extension of a company' s intranet out onto the Internet, e.g. to allow selected customers, suppliers and mobile workers to access the company' s private data and applications via the World-Wide Web. This is in contrast to, and usually in addition to, the company' s public website which is accessible to everyone. The difference can be somewhat blurred but generally an extranet implies real-time access through a firewall of some kind. Such facilities require very careful attention to security but are becoming an increasingly important means of delivering services and communicating efficiently. [Did Marc Andreessen invent the term in September 1996?] (1997-12-17)
