ITM 441 Case Study Assignment (Essay Sample)

ITM 441 Case Study Assignment
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The current global technology is essential for running organization effectively. This technology has expanded to include not only email and instant messaging, but also web conferencing. What is web conferencing? The term web conferencing could be elucidated as an interactive technology that allows its users to share information or hold meetings over the internet (Parker, and Hoffman, 2013). The technology allows its users to share audio and video content in real time, which implies that the users can share documents while conversing. Since web conferencing allows people to hold meetings without travelling, it follows that an organization can reduce its costs by using the technology. Nonetheless, web conferencing users always ponder on whether the use of web conferencing is safe. This situation is further aggravated by security threats from hackers who could expose an organization’s secrets. It appears that the alternative of face-to-face meetings is more secure than web conferencing. The question is; is this true?
To begin with, Web conferencing has the capacity to become a cost effective alternative for face-to-face meetings. This is highlighted by the cost of transport because air travel is expensive. In fact, American airline organizations warned that their operations would be affected as an effect of the increased security from the central government. Therefore, businesses will try to reduce their travelling costs by embracing web conferencing. Furthermore, the technology saves on time, which would otherwise have been spent travelling to and from meetings (Suduc, Bizoi and Gheorghe, 2009). In addition travelling is always accompanied by exhaustion, which has a negative effect on the productivity of employees. Web conferencing eradicates the need to travel to meetings. This saves employees the energy, which could be spent on activities that are more productive. Why then are organizations not using web conferencing abundantly? The Problem with web conferencing is the possibility of leaking or even loosing sensitive information to unwanted parties.
It is evident that web conferencing is an effective way for organizations to cut their costs and increase their return on equity. However, many organizations shy away from embracing this technology for fear of insecurity. Such organizations should appreciate that even though web conferencing could be insecure, using adequate measures can ascertain that web conferencing is as secure as face-to-face meetings. For instance, using non-persistent data flow and security socket layer are examples of mechanisms that can ensure the safety of web conferencing. According to RAD (2013), the data is encrypted to ensure that only verified people access the contents of the meeting. Its security is further enhanced by the migrating or switching the encrypted data constantly between different computers. The use of intrusion control works like scanning the network for unauthorized users also improves the security of web conferencing. These are the main mechanisms that could prevent information from web conference meetings from leaking out to third parties.
In addition to the security mechanisms provided by web conferencing enterprises, organizations using the technology should improve the security using the following tips. First, an organization should check the entry requirements before beginning the meeting. This will ensure everyone with access to the meeting has been verified to attend the meeting. This could be done using private and secure invitations, maintaining a strict policy on passwords, and voice authentication before the meeting begins. Secondly, access to information should be controlled during the meeting. Different participants should have access to different information based on their management levels (Suduc, Bizoi and Gheorghe, 2009). Controlling the access to information is also achievable by releasing information in parts. The last security tip is data security and protection. Data should be protected by complying with regulatory standards on data protection, using high levels of encryption, and deleting confidential information from third party servers after the meeting.
Using third party audits is also an important tool that can aid in improving the security of web conferencing. Some companies depend on other organizations to provide web conferencing services. Companies that provide web conferencing activities always make promises on the security of data. However, there have been instances where organizations make promises that they cannot fulfill. It follows that organizations willing to hire web conferencing services should conduct due diligence before hiring such services from any organization (Parker, and Hoffman, 2013). For instance, it is advisable to check for third party audits before outsourcing web conferencing services. In some instances, it may be necessary to ask for certification from regulatory bodies prior to outsourcing web conferencing services from any organization. It is also important to check whether the web conferencing provider has organizational objectives that complement the hiring company. This will enable the hiring company to hire the best and most secure company.
Web conferencing is unpopular owing to the use of face-to-face meetings. As mentioned before, the main reason why organizations prefer face-to-face meetings to web conferencing is because of the security threat accompanied by web conferencing. Are face-to-face meetings safer than web conferences? Some organizations are justified to refrain from using web conferencing because it could be insecure. However, inclusion of the measures highlighted above can improve the security of web conferencing tremendously. In any case, if a third party is willing to take the trouble of passing all the security measures above, the same ...