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| Arrowhead Business Advisor Article, March 2, 2002 |
Four Tech Trends to Watch
The world of the Internet and computer technology evolves so fast, it's hard to keep track of what you need to know right now, let alone what's coming down the road.
Here are four trends, among many, to keep your eye on:
1. Insecure Security
Viruses. Worms. Denial of service attacks. Hackers. Just when you think you've heard it all, something new comes along. This time, the security experts warn that your network infrastructure may be in danger due to security flaws in a tool used by nearly everyone.
SNMP is the standard management protocol used on networks connected to the Internet. It allows anything on the network, including switches, routers, firewalls, operating systems and server products and utilities, to communicate with management software about how well things are functioning.
It's a great tool, which explains its popularity. It also turns out to have a downside. The same devices that report in through SNMP can be vulnerable to an intruder who can get in and control them, even shut them down.
How did word spread about the problems? Researchers at Oulu University in Finland pretended to be hackers and issued commands to SNMP that a system doesn't usually expect.
They found some alarming problems. None of the 12 systems they tested passed inspection. Testers were able to crash, hang up and even enter arbitrary code.
Now that word is out, it's only a matter of time before hackers take advantage of the information. It's time to filter SNMP traffic, order and install the appropriate patches and do whatever is necessary to secure your network.
It's just one more reason to get a security audit and let security experts help you protect your network.
2. Wireless Finds its Way to U.S.
The U.S. is lagging behind Europe and some parts of Asia where wireless is transforming businesses in small and big ways. But it's headed our way and comes with its own set of security concerns.
Wireless technology also calls for the need to examine how the information on your company's web site is going to look on those tiny screens. And you'll have to make some decisions about how much bandwidth you're going to need to accommodate the new technology.
3. E-commerce Takes a Bigger Slice of the Pie
We've all heard the stories about how hundreds of dot-com enterprises hit the skids in the last couple of years. Coupled with the downturn in the economy, you might believe that e-commerce isn't working as well as predicted.
Not true.
A couple of weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that online sales-excluding travel and food services-hit $10 billion in the final quarter of 2001. That's 13.1% over the same quarter in 2000.
Online sales growth outpaced the growth in retail sales during the same period.
Online sales are still a tiny piece of the retail pie, but that piece gets bigger each quarter.
4. Spam Slam
Companies who use e-mail as a legitimate marketing tool will continue to take special pains to ensure they are sending messages to people who really want them. If they don't, Big Brother may step in. It's already happened in some European countries.
Spam is a legitimate concern: A study conducted by the European Commission concluded that spam costs Internet users worldwide about $9.36 billion a year.
The cost factors in connection time and Internet service fees people pay to download, read and delete the approximately 500,000 unsolicited e-mail messages that get sent every day. Internet users also are concerned about the space spam takes up on their computers; the increased possibilities of viruses reaching their system and the fact that "adult" messages can reach their children.
Congress has threatened to take matters into its own hands if the proliferation of spam continues. In order to avoid government regulation, members of the Direct Marketing Association have agreed to put into common practice the use of "opt-in" features where Internet users check a box that essentially says, "Yes, send me your marketing messages." They also endorse the use of a legitimate return address from the sender and the removal of the name of anyone who requests it from e-mailing lists. |
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