OPERATIONAL SECURITY OF UBIQUITOUS INFORMATION - Cyberwar-Netwar: Security in the Information Age - page 88

Internally, mobile voice technology permits value creation with "always-on-line"
agents, who are people that communicate independently of their physical location. With
mobile technology, voice information became truly ubiquitous.
Externally, mobile technology expands the previous call centre approach allowing
mobile customer support with voice interaction. Here again, all management security
issues must follow the increase in risk that comes from the potential for value creation.

5. UBIQUITOUS DATA ACCESS

The last few years initiated yet another major innovation in communications and
information management, aggregating all previous ones and creating a new and
promising competitive environment. And a new competitive behaviour really means the
emergence of a new market behaviour, new strategies based on new business models,
new operations, and management approaches. Mobile access of integrated data and voice
communications are the tools of this new era.
We already experienced the power of mobile data access with the glory of SMS and
the failure of WAP. GPRS and Wi-Fi are already in place. Our mobile devices, including
computers, can already live "always-on-line". The technology already exists and is under
experiment. The adoption of i-mode in Japan, for example, proves the potential of the
new communication paradigm. We believe that for this technology, the Internet history
will repeat itself.
The Internet was in place long before its wide and global usage. One could naively
assume that Internet success comes solely from the fact that a large number of people use
it frequently. But the Internet without content would not be really useful. It would not be
possible to use the Internet like the telephone, the content of which is produced during its
use (much like traditional services). Internet power revealed itself when people started to
use both new and previously existing computer content to create value (the value of the
network comes from communication, which expands content value, and can be calculated
using Metcalf s Law).
Much like the fixed Internet, integrated mobile voice and data communications will
really be valuable when embedded in the complete communication architecture. Besides
more than just communicating the current content, this new technology will generate new
content on its own. Information can thus become ubiquitous, both voice and data.

6. THE IMPACT OF MOBILITY IN ORGANIZATIONS

Our hypothesis is the following: organizational dependence on information will
undoubtedly increase in the era of mobility. If this is true, the dependence on information
and communication systems will increase accordingly, and, hence, security regarding the
same systems. We will first present the arguments that support the hypothesis and then
explore its consequences for security.
Individuals use today's mobile voice communications because it is possible and
because it is useful. Communication patterns have been changing naturally; mobile
phones are used more often than their fixed counterparts. It is like e-mail regarding snail
mail. People use electronic mail more often then writing real letters with pen and paper
just because it is more convenient. Besides, e-mails create new behaviour patterns. The