Monitoring and Security
from Internet Business
At a level below the most visible services of the Internet, a need is emerging
for more specialised services to the various kinds of service providers.
These include statistical monitoring of network traffic to assist the efficient
deployment of resources, monitoring of significant changes to content such
as widely linked Web pages, and various mechanisms for guaranteeing confidentiality
and security of messages.
Net-based Monitoring and Security services can be applied to the world outside
the Internet as readily as to the Net itself. Remotely controlled video
feeds and other forms of sensor monitoring can be equally applied to conventional
security needs, to environmental monitoring or to providing observational
input for specialised studies. The use of secure and confidential messaging
will open up opportunities for players who could not have afforded to set
up the kinds of private global networks than underpin the banking and travel
industries. It has already been recognised by governments that such systems
will will be equally open to those operating within or outside the law,
and this has led to various schemes for curtailing access to the most secure
systems[1].
Relative to most other Internet services, Monitoring and Security require
highly specialised technical knowledge and therefore are likely to require
a longer lead time to establish a viable business. While it shares some
of the difficulties of getting into the general equipment development and
supply business[2], the area of remote sensing and video offers a range
of opportunities to provide the eyes, ears and other senses of the cyberspace
community. At the very high end, space-based observing platforms already
feed data into the Internet at a high rate, and yet point the way towards
the earth-bound deployment of sensing equipment which may be able to be
time shared and remotely controlled by individuals doing their own research.
[1] based on an historical classification of encryption technology as
a kind of munitions
[2] see Equipment and Software