By Muthoga Kioni
If you have been reading crime news reports, you have noted police using mobile phones to apprehend criminals. Criminals have also realised we are all in a wireless grid that can work for and against them. The mobile phone has had a profound impact in our lives, especially the criminal underworld.
The mobile is now an integral security component of individuals and organisations. The potential for abuse as a tracking device makes it a security concern.
The mobile has become a platform for offering other services like money transfer, music downloads and price checking among others. Services based on mobile location are the next frontier otherwise known as Location Based Services (LBS). Various applications have been developed for example weather reporting. Once a mobile user enters a new area, the weather report of that area is sent to her phone. So a truck driver will receive weather updates whenever he crosses a province or country.
Another service is the Wireless Emergency Services (WES). When a mobile user calls the emergency number, the service provider determines the location of the caller through Automatic Location Identification (ALI). The information is then forwarded to police or emergency response teams. Such services will improve living standards especially in health and security sectors.
Tracking kidnappers
Using ALI to track kidnappers and rapists provides an immediate benefit to the society.
There is, however, a flip side to this situation. Whereas ALI is beneficial, it also poses a serious security risk to mobile users if abused. In this age of interconnected networks (internet, GSM, CDMA etc) the security structures needed to protect this feature should be scrutinised for public good.
Various scenarios come to mind. Imagine a demented individual stalking a spurned lover or a disgruntled employee planning revenge on the employer. Accessing ALI to locate a potential victim would be possible from both the human and technological access points. A hacker can access service provider’s telecommunication system and sell real-time locations of people to criminals. By using social engineering techniques and outright threats, employees of service providers who maintain the ALI system, would be vulnerable to blackmail and physical harm.
There is definitely a greater good in using location mobile tracking to combat crime. We should, however, be cognizant to its potential abuse. Ethical and legislative frameworks should be developed to ensure ALI is only used for the greater good.
The writer is an ICT Security and Forensic Specialist.
Email: bmuthoga@hotmail.com
