The mCell and Group Instant Messaging

Mobile technology creates a new platform for efficient communication apps. Specifically, the technology promotes cooperation, data sharing, and communication among multiple organizations working in various locations. The mCell and instant group messaging are two mobile technologies that can be used on a mobile phone to facilitate group communication. The mCell is a revolutionary technology that allows for many types of group communication (Virtanen, Haveri, Blom, Häkkilä, and Tarkiainen, 2008). It is based on a communication server that runs on an S60 mobile phone. Group instant messaging, on the other hand, includes services such as Kik, QQ, and Whatsapp (Ling, 2017). How it is used to communication, access inspection reports, and improve collaboration

The mCell refers to a portal of group communication installed in a mobile phone or smartphone of one of the group member. The rest of the group members can use the portal by utilizing any Internet linked terminal, personal computer or mobile, having a web browser (Virtanen, Haveri, Blom, Häkkilä & Tarkiainen, 2008). A single mobile phone can serve numerous mCell portals usually designed to cover different groups. The mobile phone, which has been installed with mCells, contains an application designed to manage the portals. It is referred to as mCell Manager that can delete, modify, and create the mCell portals. In addition, it contains the mFocus, which helps in communication between members of the group via the short message. Therefore, the group benefit from efficient dissemination of information among the group members (Virtanen, Haveri, Blom, Häkkilä & Tarkiainen, 2008). Furthermore, it contains features such as the mLine, which facilitate group chats. It enables member to obtain situational awareness through the chat as different persons can see online individuals. The feature is quite important because it promote collaboration between the group members. For instance, groups members who have not logged in the portal can be notified through SMS created by mLine.

The mCell also permits access to inspection reports via features such as mBoard and mTivity. The mBoard allows group members to generate posts, topics, and read messages posted by others. Moreover, it also facilitates attachment of files and photos. An RSS feed of the mBoard are facilitates easier identification of new messages while old messages can be either archived or deleted. Finally, the mTivity features play the role of an activity tracker. Therefore, it can record statistics about the most popular mBoard strand. It also displays the most active member in the group (Virtanen, Haveri, Blom, Häkkilä & Tarkiainen, 2008).

The group instant messaging such as Whatsapp and QQ can also play a crucial part in the group coordination, access to inspection reports and communication (Ling, 2017). For instance, they are made of new technology, which allows for social coordination. It has also promoted the growth of subsidiary event coordination, which is commonly known as digital propagation, and meme-based coordination. In this form of coordination, persons engaging in a common event are not required to directly meet the coordination messages to a certain person, but instead to a group (Ling, 2017).

How it can positively and negatively affect the organization’s security

Mobile technology is very useful to the group as it allow members of the group to complete their work in remote locations at their preferred time. Nonetheless, they can be a source of negative effects to the security of the organization because of security breaches, data losses, and violations of regulatory compliance (Virtanen, Haveri, Blom, Häkkilä & Tarkiainen, 2008). Due to rising number of mobile devices linked to the organization’s networks, they compromise on the organization’s security. In addition, they mobile technology is likely to raise the security incidence in the country owing to the increase in bring your own device (BYOD). The mobile technology contains group information, which can lead to various security concerns (Ling, 2017). The mobile devices encourages security threats from the group because most of them lack awareness and time to monitor whether their application have latest security software.

How it positively affects the process of completing security assessment and how it might be negatively affected

The technology such as mCell and instant group messaging has positive effects to the process of completing security assessment. For instance, the mCell is designed in such a way that its server is in the phone. Therefore, it guaranteed more privacy and trust. In addition, the members of the group and the organization increase their confidence in the technology because only a single individual manages the server (Virtanen, Haveri, Blom, Häkkilä & Tarkiainen, 2008). The manager is well known to all people hence they trusts the portal since there would be no stranger online. However, security assessment could be affected by technical challenges, which affects the server. The admin of the server could be struggling to maintain the effectiveness of the server as recommended (Ling, 2017). Consequently, it could affect the maintenance of adequate technology.

How use of the Internet and the WWW affect information security

The dramatic rise in mobile internet has played a role in changing the manner in which individuals utilize communication technologies. Applications and devices such as Whatsapp and mCell have the capacity to connect to the internet and the World Wide Web (Ling, 2017). For instance, the mCell uses Apache web connected to S60 mobile devices as well as through an HTTP connection through the Internet (Virtanen, Haveri, Blom, Häkkilä & Tarkiainen, 2008). The technical layer of the mCell facilitates creation of web forum that can be hosted on the mobile phone but members could connect using the web browser. However, the use of worldwide web and the internet increases risk to information insecurity because advancement in technology can be used to attack the portal.

References

Ling, R. (2017). The social dynamics of mobile group messaging. Annals of the International Communication Association, 1-8.

Virtanen, J., Haveri, M., Blom, J., Häkkilä, J., & Tarkiainen, M. T. (2008). mCell: Facilitating Mobile Communication of Small Groups. Advances in Human-Computer Interaction, 2008.