3.3 What Types of Applications are Available?

Recognizing the frustrations and limitations of today's wireless technology, many businesses are designing their wireless devices and services not necessarily as replacements for wired Internet access, but as specialized services that extend what the wired Internet could offer. Most of these services highlight the attractive convenience of portable informational access, "anytime, anywhere," without having to sit in front of a computer; essentially, Internet services one can carry in one's pocket. Clearly, the information would have to be concise, portable, useful, and easy to access. Examples of mobile services available or being designed today include:

Shopping online using a mobile phone; comparing online prices with store prices while inside an actual store
Getting current stock prices, trading price alerts, trade confirmations, and portfolio information anywhere
Performing bank transactions and obtaining account information
Obtaining travel schedules and booking reservations
Obtaining personalized news stories and weather forecasts
Receiving the latest lottery numbers
Obtaining the current delivery status for express packages
Reading and writing e-mail "on the go"
Accessing internal corporate databases such as inventory, client lists, etc.
Getting maps and driving directions
Finding the nearest ATM machines, restaurants, theaters, and stores, based on the user's present location
Dialing 911 and having emergency services quickly triangulate the caller's location
Browsing a Web site and speaking real-time with the site's representative, all within the same session

Newer and more-innovative services are in the works. As any new and emerging technology, wireless services and applications are often surrounded by much hope and hype, as well as some healthy skepticism. But as the technology and services mature over time, yesterday's experiments can become tomorrow's standards. The Internet is a grand example of this evolving progress. Development of the wireless Internet will go through the same evolutionary cycle, although probably at an even faster pace.

Like any new technology, however, security and safety issues can damage its reputation and benefits if they are not included intelligently into the design from the very beginning. It is with this in mind that this chapter is written.

Because the wireless Internet covers much territory, the same goes for its security as well. This chapter discusses security issues as they relate to the wireless Internet in a few select categories, starting with transmission methods to the wireless devices and ending with some of the infrastructure components themselves.