"Device management simplifies over the air configuration of different mobile devices"

-Sharad Arora, managing director, SmartTrust India

What is the current state of security of India's wireless networks?
The GSM uses the authentication technology based on triple Data Encryption Standard (DES) algorithm. Authentication is one of the pillars of security. Beyond authentication, you have the need for confidentiality. The third is integrity, meaning that the message has not been manipulated. The last pillar is non-repudiation. Through this, you can unequivocally point out the transaction to the owner of the transaction. Authentication is nicely taken care of in GSM. Device can be broken up into two-SIM card and the mobile device. With SIM card, you can have every transaction or message that is being transmitted, encrypted by a triple DES. Separate keys can encrypt not just the messages bearing layers within GSM, but every transaction. SIM card manipulation cannot be encrypted. India is one of the few countries where we have non-repudiation within the legal framework.

What is mobile device management?
It was during 2003 that the diversities and capabilities of handsets started increasing and we realized the importance of mobile device management. At the time, the mobile device management to us was that piece of capability inside the network that was configured over the air. Studies done across the globe found that the major barriers to the usage of MMS and GPRS is the inability to get it configured properly and the usability in terms of services and the uncertainty about who you were addressing. The automated way of discovering your user's handset is similar to the automatic aspect of setting it up with device configuration. With the proliferation of PDAs and Smartphones the problem gets more complicated. Device management simplifies the over the air configuration of different devices. Our role is in the identification of the current client and over the air downloading it to the devices in the market.

What is the situation in India on the device management front?
There is a gap in ownership of mobile device You buy a handset from a dealer, but the kind of support they provide to you is far from satisfactory. The reason is that these dealers do not have the knowledge and the tools. FOTA (firmware over the air) is one such tool, which takes care of this. Software is released regularly, how does the user and the dealer know about the updates that are available. The answer is that they will never know. Recognizing which version you are using and updating it automatically is the only feasible solution. One of the things we are working with some of the Indian operators is the threat of viruses. Along with the mobile device management we have very strong local program, which is called terminal capability repository program. We have in excess of 5,000 terminals and we have relationship with the manufacturers. We get data regularly from handset manufacturers on the capability of handsets. And then we have the ability to update it over the air. In the present scenario, we are able to update 95% of the handsets over the air.

How much is the cost involved in implementing the OTA technology by a service provider?
It depends on how many clients I am supporting and it could also be based on how many subscribers are expected to use this solution in the network.

Sudesh Prasad
sudeshp@cybermedia.co.in