LBS - it's no B.S.

Do you ever have those paranoid thoughts that our technology is getting so advanced that it may actually take over the world one day (kind of like in that movie, I, Robot with Will Smith...)?

Will Smith talks to robots.

Well, don't worry, you're not paranoid. It's already beginning to happen.

Just kidding. It's not. If you're feeling that paranoid, you might want to consider taking up meditation or yoga. But, we can't blame you for being in awe at how far our society has come with technology in recent years, and how much further we can potentially go.

In the telecommunications world, so much progress has been made in the growth of technology uses that it's hard not to let our jaws drop just a bit (see Geeking out over VoIP-enabled toys and Virtualizing for the future). One such advancement really isn't all that new, but it is something that people might not normally think about because it's been incorporated in their day-to-day lives so much within the last 10 years.

Location-based service (LBS) has played a major role in helping technology help to make our lives easier. Generally, it requires global positioning system (GPS) technology to track where a device is and where it travels to. In fact, if you're an owner of a smart phone or tablet, you encounter LBS daily and probably don't even realize it.

When you update your Facebook status from your DROID RAZR, LBS is registering your exact location, even if you don't "check in" anywhere. When you do a Google search on your brand new iPad for the closest Greek restaurant to your office, LBS is using your GPS location to help narrow your search results.

Mitel, a global provider of business communications and collaboration software services, has a mobility application called Unified Communicator Advanced (UCA). With this application, LBS is used to help determine your availability based on your location via GPS and your Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connection.

For example, Tiffany, one of our communications consultants, uses the Mitel UCA application on her personal cell phone to twin her desk phone number. That way, she can make and receive calls from her cell phone under the guise of her desk phone number while she's out in the field. But, say she goes home instead of heading back to the office after being out on a client site visit all day. While her UCA status is set to mobile over her phone's own internet connection, the moment she comes in to her personal Wi-Fi zone at her house, her UCA status will change to whatever she had previously programmed it to change to (for this purpose, let's say she programmed is to change to "Gone for the Day" when she's at home). So, if she's ready to end her work day and her phone is already set to "Gone for the Day," any calls coming in to her number will be automatically directed to her voicemail.

ShoreTel, another leading provider of unified communications solutions and IP business phone systems, has a similar product that allows for its users with mobility enabled on their mobile devices. With the ShoreWare Mobile Call Manager, LBS is enabled by a waypoint, or:

"a data point that associates an action with a specific location. When your device receives a GPS signal in the location specified by the waypoint, while Mobile Call Manager is in the foreground application, the action defined by the waypoint is performed." 

DrVoIP, a VoIP blog, highlights these capabilities:

"With the ShoreTel Version 9 the GPS in my phone can use my current location to set my call handling mode and effectively change my external assignment. So when I am in the office, all the calls to my extension ring in at my desk. If I go out for lunch the GPS notes my location as 'not in the office' [and] changes my external assignment and my calls start ringing in on my cell. When I finally get home from a long day at the beach, the GPS notes that I am home and assigns my extension to my home phone."

So while our technology might not be taking over the world any time soon, with the ability for a tablet or phone to detect its owner's location and adjust their mobility statuses for their work phone, perhaps we should start calling smart phones intelligent phones, instead. We think it has a bit of a ring to it!

Is your jaw dropping (even just a little bit) at this LBS business? Talk to us! We partner with both Mitel and ShoreTel, and can tell you which phone system will best fit your company's needs. Visit our website - www.mavericknetworks.net - or send us an e-mail to info@mavericknetworks.net!

Mobile security - it doesn't have to be a Wild West standoff

Last month, we posted a blog about the “bring your own device” (BYOD) practice that more and more businesses are welcoming as a part of their internal communications. 

While we could speak all day on the plethora of benefits this provides for organizations, there’s another trend running parallel to this that IT directors should be wary of, and it’s not a good one.

"This network ain't big enough for the two of us!"

Think of the recurring use of personal devices for work purposes like the old, Wild West. There are many landscapes still being discovered while more and more people join the trend. But, like the Wild West, there’s still a lack of governance for these new landscapes. Therefore, there are more possibilities for some “bad apples” to take over the territories for themselves, putting peoples’ smart phones and tablets in jeopardy.

Nope. He's not living among the Kiwis.

Confused by the Wild West reference? We’re talking about hackers here, people. 

Hackers, like the people that have enough technical experience that they can take control of others' computers from their own device, no matter the distance between the two operating systems, or can sneak in to PBS’s network and tell the world that former rap star Tupac Shakur was still alive and living in New Zealand (*cough* LulzSec *cough*).

In February 2011, PC World reported than cybercrime had doubled in growth "year after year," and according to Noa Bar-Yosef, senior security strategist for Imperva, "In the last half of (2010) there were 2,383 mobility-related keywords in hacker forum threads compared to only 264 on the previous half - almost a tenfold increase" (Keeping Data Safe When it Leaves the Corporate Nest).

These hackers are using the same tactics with mobile devices as they have for years with computers - installing malware, phishing, etc. The difference now, however, is that companies, particularly those with sensitive data, that allow their employees to use their own devices for out-of-office communication, are at a much higher risk of a security breach on their data and information than they were before.

Why is this the case? Because there is still limited IT control over these devices. A personal device is thought to be just that, personal. But when an employee makes the decision to bring it to work and use it for business-related transactions and communication, their phone is no longer just their own device.

"Organizations need to respond to this trend by developing policies to address new mobile work styles that can drive productivity through more flexible working, while safeguarding the use of data and sensitive information," wrote Stephen Withers in an article for iTwire last November.

Business Computing World lists some policies that can be developed and implemented by IT directors:

• Remote wipe and lock: IT managers can required employees to install remote wiping software on their device before using it for work. This allows IT to lock down and erase data if the device is stolen or lost.
• GPS tracking: "Some Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions allow IT to send an alarm to the device to help identify the location for a user, and if truly lost, IT can then leverage the wipe and lock technology mentioned above."
• Network authentication, authorization, account: IT can adopt a solutions that tie devices connected with the organization's network with each user's identity and role, then apply proper policies (depending on the role) to grant certain access privledges. "This enables IT to differentiate access for different levels of employees or guests, or even by device type. It also lets IT take a proactive stance on tracking and monitoring how mobile devices are being used within their network."
• Secure remote support: Many users of BYOD use person mobile devices for work when out of the office - having a secure way to support and fix these devices from a remote location is necessary. It allows help desks to "configure devices, chat, transfer files, and even remotely see and control the device."
• Acceptable use policy: As a company would expect its employees to use their computers only for work-appropriate purposes, so should it expect its employees to use their personal devices if they choose to use them for work. Having employees sign an Acceptable Use Agreement to allow them access to the company network with their person device allows IT to have a better grasp on the conditions under which the employee is allowed to use their phone. The agreement may include conditions, such as installing a device certificate or the remote wipe software, or state that devices can be seized if necessary for legal matters.
  
   While some may see IT taking such measures as a bit controlling, at the end of the day, it will ensure security, not just for the company's data, but also for the person to whom the device belongs and their personal data (i.e. banking information, personal account logins, contact information, etc.). And, just like in the old, Wild West, when a new sheriff comes in to town (or, in this case, a new IT policy regarding personal devices), keeping order is a shared responsibility between both parties. The "sheriff" lays down "laws" to ensure everyone's safety, and if people follow these laws, they're less likely to be harmed by malicious, external forces.