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Security protocol
At present, security is not an issue, as the information disseminated by the portal is in the public domain, says Teasdale. However, it will be a concern in the future if the government gets involved in personalization of services.
But all these kinks will need to be sorted out, as statistics show wireless will inevitably overtake wired technology very soon, she adds.
"Cell phone usage will surpass landlines for voice, if it hasn't already, and there are also predictions that accessing information on the Web with wireless devices will surpass wired PC connections very soon."
Government has the added challenge of co-evolving services when wireless technology is itself a moving target. But the communications protocols at the core of wireless mean these teething pains will be temporary.
"The real power that makes it all workable is that everything we do is based on Internet protocols," says New Brunswick's Keizer. "Be it wireless or wired, we can use common protocols so applications don't have to worry about managing communications. So the infrastructure depends on what you're trying to do."
Channel consolidation will be possible in some cases, but more difficult when dealing with legacy systems that aren't based on standards, says Forget of WINBC. But even these can be brought into the wireless fold with specialized telecom gear.
"Software-defined radio (SDR) can keep legacy systems operational while deploying a new system," he says. "SDR-based bay station equipment that talks across multiple standards to tie legacy systems into a new standards-based system can be used during the transition."
Many cities offer municipal Wi-Fi that can be used by government field workers, and this type of infrastructure project can be underwritten in large part from savings of recurring charges.
"The ongoing wireless charges that government has to pay telecom providers are astronomical. These could be consolidated to pay for a single back haul, which would then cause the monthly charges to go away, and the capital expenditure in infrastructure would be paid off," says Forget.
Keizer agrees with this assertion, but with certain caveats.
"If it's a large city with lots of field workers, then it's right," he says. But there are other factors to consider, such as the municipal Wi-Fi project's goals, its business model and the infrastructure.
"In Fred e-zone's instance [in Fredericton], the goal was to make Wi-Fi available to all in public places. But for the Legislature, we needed dedicated capacity, so we did our own design around that objective."
And in Saskatchewan's case, Murray points out that Sasktel is the last carrier in Canada that is still owned by the province.
"We have an advantage, as there's a 'public good' side to what it does."
The string of municipal Wi-Fi project failures reported in the U.S. are largely due to poor infrastructure planning, says Forget.
"Wi-Fi is a great technology for a small area, but there can be issues when you deploy it to a large area," he says.
"Each time you add a hop, you also add latency, jitter and reduced throughput, and this limits the apps you can run. You need good planning if there are lots of aggregation points, or a more encompassing technology that can control quality."
Cryptography basics
But wireless technology is evolving. The new draft 802.11n protocol, with its promise to boost Wi-Fi signals dramatically, is set to be ratified next year.
Wi-Fi signals are projected to go almost twice as far at speeds of 100 Mbps, and promise better Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) security.
"But I don't think this will change the way existing deployments are being rolled out as this protocol is backwards compatible, so old equipment can talk to new," says Forget.
But he points out Wi-Max technology is also in the works. "Wi-Fi is unlicensed technology that's used with low-power devices," he explains.
"Wi-Max is more robust as it's based on licensed spectrum, has full PKI security built in, and has a range of about five kilometres per node versus a few metres for Wi-Fi."
While there have been only a few deployments in Canada, Wi-Max is almost ubiquitous in Korea, and there have been major roll-outs in South America and Europe, adds Forget.
There are many security worries swirling around wireless. But some are due to misunderstandings about the options that already exist to address them, he adds. The new 802.11n protocol has stronger security, but he believes it will make little difference.
"It may make people more comfortable deploying it, but the reality is, you can take existing Wi-Fi equipment and put as good security on top as you can get with the new stuff. It's a matter of how the network is implemented."
However, some security mechanisms are frequently overlooked, he says.
"One thing installers often don't do is add additional encryption beyond what's provided by the Wi-Fi equipment," he says. "If you encrypt the data before it ever touches the wireless, and if you encrypt the endpoint and bay station, no one will be able to see that data going through the air even if the airline has zero security on it."
Another common issue is improper implementation and testing, he says.
"Often installers think they've encrypted the access points, but in fact haven't. It's very simple to just plug it in and assume the connection is secure without checking it. This happens a lot."
PKI and privacy
With the proliferation of IP-based surveillance video, security and privacy issues resulting from improper implementations are coming to the fore.
For example, in a recent investigation of a privacy breach at a methadone clinic in Sudbury, Ontario's privacy commissioner concluded the clinic's use of unsecured wireless surveillance equipment allowed video images (of a woman providing a urine sample) to be intercepted.
"My sense is that the clinic asked very few questions of the service provider," says Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian. "It's not enough that they apply encryption once and forget about it. They have to conduct annual audits of the system to ensure it's secure."
There are also security concerns in adding more personalized views to Service Canada's wireless portal, says Danek of PWGSC.
Danek says demand is growing for the federal government's Secure Channel program, which allows citizens to access their EI, income tax and other personal government transactions. But it would be difficult to replicate that level of strong security on the wireless portal, he says.
"PKI technology hasn't made its way into wireless devices. What's not there at the device end are tokens or digital certificates. These have to reside at the user end, and that's the piece that hasn't evolved or standardized for the masses," says Danek.
"We can control a device's standard within government departments, but we have no control over the masses of devices out there."
Rosie Lombardi is a freelance writer based in Toronto. Contact her at rosie@rosie-lombardi.com
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