Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
communications must be considered during capacity and network plan-
ning. Legal subpoenas for communication archives have become more
common, as in the case of electronic communications reviewed during the
legal actions against Enron. An architect must identify retention mandates,
archival policies, access mechanisms, storage requirements, and the legal
implications of electronic communications throughout the enteprise.
Because of its pervasive nature, e-mail is the most fundamental and
widely accepted—even demanded—means for asynchronous communi-
cation within the modern network enterprise. E-mail creates a number
of potential security issues and vulnerabilities, however, because the pro-
tocol is designed to allow data to enter into a protected network from
external sources without requiring specific authorization prior to con-
nection. This offers a potential vector for a directed denial-of-service
attack, which can be mitigated somewhat by separating edge-boundary
SMTP transport from internal transfer between e-mail accounts within
the same server.
Short Message Service
Short Message Service (SMS) is a second form of asynchronous com-
munication that provides information directly to users. The protocols
have evolved to transmit short text messages between cellular phones
and other types of mobile technology, but have also become fixtures in
the modern mobile communications suite and provide directed alert-
ing from security appliances and services outside of e-mail transport
that may be under attack and unavailable. The value of these devices is
clearly underscored by concerns raised over the possible cessation of the
popular Blackberry service during its patent engagement with a rival
firm. Emergency services, governmental agencies, and large corpora-
tions expressed strong concerns that a termination of the service could
have widespread negative effects, due to the vital role SMS messaging
can play.
Modern SMS solutions can transmit other media content in addi-
tion to textual data. SMS connectivity can also be used for monitoring
and telemetry between independent devices and is gaining acceptance in
vehicle-tracking solutions along with cellular GPS tracking. Although it
