4 Computer

L E T T E R S

To the Editor:I just recommended WAP to the Navy,

and then I saw Ted Lewis’s article (“WhyWAP May Never Get off the Ground,Aug. 2000, pp. 112, 110-111).

But I’m sticking to my guns that it’s agood protocol to look at for defense pur-poses. The problems of mobility, fracturedaccess, low bandwidth, and limited clientprocessing are similar, and WAP has atleast taken a good look-see at such issues.The XML link doesn’t hurt much either.

I’m surprised that Lewis invoked lackof GPRS and 3G services as killers,though, and I’m not sure why the empha-sis on audio. I have this peculiar feelingthat the Internet is coming to mobile nomatter what, and WAP still looks like abetter “well, I guess we could use this”alternative than other choices like MExEor the Java stuff. I’m betting that “sortof adequate and it’s there” will be the realdriver as the Internet mobilizes.

So... I’ll bet Lewis a wooden nickel ora chance to sub for him in the BinaryCritic column on a topic of my choicethat by the start of 2002 WAP will be inplace and in use in more devices than anyalternatives. (Actually, I’m not sure if I’mproposing that for “winning” or “los-ing,” but whatever...)Terry Bollingerterry@mitre.org

Ted Lewis replies:Thanks for your alternative view. I am

sure most of Computer’s readers willagree with you. But, the killer app fortelephones is voice, in my view. I want

my PT Cruiser to vocalize my e-mail,sports, and news, and alert me to trafficjams...all while I am keeping both handson the steering wheel. As for mobilephones, so far they have been designedfor ears, not eyes.

Okay, so PIMS like the PalmPilot willmerge with handys such as I-MODEfrom DoCoMo, but my guess is that theresulting hybrid will talk to me ratherthan try to replace my desktop browser.

To the Editor:Ted Lewis’s comments about WAP

(“Why WAP May Never Get off theGround,” Aug. 2000, pp. 112, 110-111)bring up a number of questions: How arecompanies going to develop voice-basedWeb transactions? If either WAP orVXML is the answer, how many billionsof Web pages can be converted to eithertechnology, and who would do that?What would the cost be, and who wouldpay for it? (Obviously, not the con-sumers.)

The latest breakthrough technology inthe area of voice-based Internet access isan intelligent agent that uses artificialintelligence and doesn’t require the cre-ation of VXML or WAP pages. It canread any page, convert text to speech,send and receive e-mails, browse theWeb, or perform stock trades and other

commercial transactions anytime, any-where, using an ordinary phone and sim-ple voice commands.

This technology will change the e-busi-ness rules, and early adopters will have atremendous competitive advantage. Amit Sarkar Internet Speech amit@internetspeech.com

Ted Lewis replies:Many new companies have the right

idea. VXML will be bigger than WAP,and we will see many attempts to scrapethe Web for text-to-speech. In addition,there will be new businesses with VXMLcontent based purely on audio. Forexample, Audible.com and CommandAudio go directly to VXML, therebybypassing text altogether.

I am skeptical that anyone will makemuch of a business out of converting textto voice by automating the process ofconverting Web pages—the visual para-digm doesn’t match the aural paradigm.Better to rethink Web businesses from thepoint of view of radio rather than TV.

GLOBAL RESPONSE INFRASTRUCTURECRUCIAL FOR WEB SECURITY To the Editor:

The Internet’s explosive growth and itsdistributed access points have made itvulnerable to security breaches. In addi-tion to placing the assets and privacy ofindividuals at risk, the increasing depen-dence on the Internet and the intercon-nectivity it offers raises concerns aboutthe vulnerability of the critical infra-structure. From a mere six attacks on theInternet reported to CERT (ComputerEmergency Response Team) in 1988, thenumber increased to 9,859 in 1999.During the first quarter of 2000, morethan 4,000 incidents were reported(http://www.cert.org/stats/cert_stats.html[accessed 08 June 2000]). AlthoughCERT does not publish statistics on theinternational nature of Internet attacks,an attack originated in any country canrapidly spread worldwide.

Traditionally, CERT and FIRST (For-um of Incident Response and SecurityTeams)—a group of security practition-ers who respond to computer security

To WAP or Not to WAP?

Continued on page 6

We welcome your letters. Send them to Letters, Computer, 10662 Los Vaqueros Cir.,PO Box 3014, Los Alamitos, CA 90720-1314;fax +1 714 821 4010; computer@computer.org. Letters are subject to editing for style,clarity, and length.

L e t t e r sContinued from page 4

incidents that has neither an operationalmission nor funding—are the two orga-nizations that have played a major rolein addressing Internet security responseand management issues by supportingawareness, response, and preventionactivities. However, there is no globalincidence response infrastructure.

Although international cooperationexists at the diplomatic or national intel-ligence level, cooperation is needed at thecybertechnical level. We need to estab-lish a global response team to help set upguidelines for handling internationalInternet attacks. Technical cooperationwill help pinpoint the source, identify theenvironment, aid in tracing the machinesand individuals at the source of theattacks, and determine the appropriateresponse.

Conducting a systematic study todevelop a common taxonomy and lan-guage for the Internet security field is anessential step. This process will facilitatethe sharing of information between organizations and across internationalboundaries. A proper classification andimproved cataloging of attacks will assistin the development of appropriate cor-rective measures when Internet attacksoccur.

The time is now ripe to take someaction in this area. Governments andinternational professional technical orga-nizations such as the IEEE should takethe initiative in setting up global teams,research centers, and response centers todevelop a means of protecting Internetsecurity.Vir V. PhohaCollege of Engineering and ScienceLouisiana Tech UniversityRuston, La.andRekha BangaloreMotorola Corp.Austin, Texasphoha@coes.latech.edu

AREA EDITORS

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: BILL MARK, SRI INTERNATIONAL; BILL.MARK@SRI.COM

BINARY CRITIC: TED G. LEWIS, DAIMLERCHRYSLERRESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY; TED.LEWIS@RTNA.DAIMLERCHRYSLER.COM

COMMUNICATIONS: UPKAR VARSHNEY, GEORGIASTATE UNIV.; UVARSHNEY@GSU.EDU

DATABASES/SOFTWARE: MICHAEL BLAHA, OMT ASSOCIATES INC.; BLAHA@COMPUTER.ORG

ENTERTAINMENT COMPUTING: MICHAEL R. MACEDONIA, US ARMY SIMULATION TRAINING ANDINSTRUMENTATION COMMAND; MACEDONIA@COMPUTER.ORG

HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING: BILL MANGIONE- SMITH, UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES;BILLMS@UCLA.EDU

INTEGRATED ENGINEERING: JERZY ROZENBLIT, UNIV. OF ARIZ., TUCSON; JR@ECE.ARIZONA.EDU; AND SANJAYA KUMAR, HONEYWELL TECHNOLOGYCENTER; SKUMAR@HTC.HONEYWELL.COM

INTERNET WATCH: RON VETTER, UNIV. OF NORTHCAROLINA AT WILMINGTON; VETTERR@UNCWIL.EDU

MULTIMEDIA AND DATABASES: SHUNSUKE UEMURA,NARA INST. OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY;UEMURA@IS.AIST-NARA.AC.JP

NETWORKING: JONATHAN M. SMITH, UNIV. OF PENNSYLVANIA; JMS@CENTRAL.CIS.UPENN.EDU

NETWORKING AND E-COMMERCE: ALFRED C. WEAVER;UNIV. OF VIRGINIA; WEAVER@CS.VIRGINIA.EDU

THE PROFESSION: NEVILLE HOLMES, UNIV. OFTASMANIA; NEVILLE.HOLMES@UTAS.EDU.AU

SOFTWARE: H. DIETER ROMBACH, AG SOFTWAREENGINEERING; ROMBACH@INFORMATIK.UNI-KL.DE;BILL N. SCHILIT, FX PALO ALTO LABORATORY;SCHILIT@PAL.XEROX. COM

SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT: BARRY BOEHM, UNIV. OFSOUTHERN CALIFORNIA; BBOEHM@COMPUTER.ORG

SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES/NEW BOOKS:MICHAEL J. LUTZ, ROCHESTER INSTITUTEOF TECHNOLOGY; MJL@CS.RIT.EDU

STANDARDS: GARY ROBINSON; G.ROBINSON@COMPUTER.ORG

CONTRIBUTING EDITORHOWARD RUBIN, HUNTER COLLEGE;71031.377@COMPUSERVE.COM

COMPUTER ADVISERSEDWARD A. PARRISH, WORCESTER

POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE; EAP@WPI.EDURALPH CAVIN, SEMICONDUCTOR RESEARCH CORP.;

CAVIN@SRC.ORGROBERT COLWELL, INTEL CORP.; BCOLWELL@ICHIPS.

INTEL.COM

CS MAGAZINE OPERATIONS COMMITTEESOREL REISMAN (CHAIR), JAMES H. AYLOR, JEANBACON, THOMAS J. BERGIN, WUSHOW CHOU,GEORGE CYBENKO, WILLIAM I. GROSKY, STEVEMCCONNELL, DANIEL E. O’LEARY, KEN SAKAMURA,MUNINDAR P. SINGH, JAMES J. THOMAS, YERVANTZORIAN

CS PUBLICATIONS BOARDSALLIE SHEPPARD (CHAIR), JAKE AGGARWAL, LAXMI BHUYAN, JON BUTLER, LORI CLARKE, ALBERTO DEL BIMBO, LAUREL KALEDA, RANGACHARKASTURI, MIKE T. LIU, SOREL REISMAN, MIKEWILLIAMS, ZHIWEI XU

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:JAMES H. AYLOR, UNIV. OF VIRGINIA; JHA@VIRGINIA.EDU

ASSOCIATE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:DORIS CARVER, LOUISIANA STATE UNIV.;CARVER@BIT.CSC.LSU.EDU

COMPUTING PRACTICES: THOMAS CAIN, UNIV. OF PITTSBURGH;TCAIN@COMPUTER.ORG

PERSPECTIVES: RONALD HOELZEMAN, UNIV. OF PITTSBURGH;RHOELZEMAN@COMPUTER.ORG

SPECIAL ISSUES:KATHLEEN SWIGGER, UNIV. OF NORTH TEXAS;KATHY@CS.UNT.EDU

2000 PRESIDENT: GUYLAINE POLLOCKG.POLLOCK@COMPUTER.ORG

EDITORIAL STAFF

SCOTT HAMILTONSENIOR ACQUISITIONS EDITORSHAMILTON@COMPUTER.ORG

JANET WILSONSENIOR ACQUISITIONS EDITORJWILSON@COMPUTER.ORG

JUDITH PROWMANAGING EDITOR

LEE GARBERNEWS EDITORLGARBER@COMPUTER.ORG

CHRISTINE MILLERPRODUCTION EDITORCMILLER@COMPUTER.ORG

STEPHANIE KAWADAASSOCIATE EDITOR

JAMES SANDERSASSOCIATE EDITOR

MARY-LOUISE G. PINERSTAFF EDITOR, MEMBERSHIP NEWS

THOMAS J. CENTRELLASTAFF EDITOR

ORREN MERTONSTAFF EDITOR

JASON SEABORNEDITORIAL ASSISTANT

BRYAN SALLISMANUSCRIPT ASSISTANT

ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTORANNE MARIE KELLY

PUBLISHERANGELA BURGESSABURGESS@COMPUTER.ORG

MEMBERSHIP & CIRCULATIONMARKETING MANAGERGEORGANN CARTER

SALES REPRESENTATIVESANDY AIJALA

ADVERTISING COORDINATORMARIAN ANDERSON

DESIGNLARRY BAUERDIRK HAGNER

PRODUCTIONCHRISTOPHER A. PATTERSONLARRY BAUERKEN DUCKWORTH

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