A Little Bit About Wi-Fi Wireless Networking

1. What is Wi-Fi?

According to my favorite techno-dictionary, Webopedia, it stands for Wireless-Fidelity. Wi-Fi is equipment and software that use several radio and computer standards allowing, say a laptop computer, to wirelessly connect to a computer network. There is a Wireless Access Point that is a radio transceiver (send and receive) station. This station is normally connected to the wired computer network. The user then has their Wi-Fi capability either built into their laptop or can add a PC Card or USB device on their side of the Wi-Fi network to make the connection. So, bottom line is that once a place like a hotel or courthouse has what is called a "Hotspot", computer users can connect to the Internet without plugging in.

2. How would it benefit courthouses specifically?

Wi-Fi provides computer network services to attorneys and even the public who may be called for jury service and want to access their e-mail or even connect back to their home computers or office computer servers. For example, when I travel to Sarajevo, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, I am able to connect to the Internet using my laptop equipped with a Wi-Fi PC Card, then using my VPN (virtual private network) account I am able to access computer servers back in the office where I have stored documents. An attorney could do the same thing in the courthouse. We do recommend that the Wi-Fi services in the courthouse be installed as a separate computer network from internal court network so as to avoid security and performance problems.

The Bernalillo County Courthouse in Albuquerque, New Mexico has also used Wi-Fi for attorneys in the courthouse for voice telephone service.

3. What are the security issues that courthouses can possibly face by using Wi-Fi?

There are unfortunately several security issues. Recently a new piece of software was released that allows persons with their own Wi-Fi laptop to watch the messages being sent in their vicinity on the Wi-Fi network. Simply using encryption technology can overcome this. However, many Wi-Fi networks do not have even the built-in, low-level security enabled. So, for now, the normal Wi-Fi user has to be careful not to send information like credit card numbers through the wireless connection.

4. What can a courthouse do to protect itself from hackers and other security breeches when using Wi-Fi?

I would suggest first that the Wi-Fi network be a physically separate network from the internal government network. Second, that courts perhaps contract with a public wireless service provider so that they do not have to undertake the support cost. This is a similar approach to what airports have done to provide Wi-Fi services to the public. And third, I would investigate the implementation of strong wireless security on the court's network. The Wi-Fi Alliance has information on the security standards that have and are being developed.

Wireless Network Technology Use in the Petersen Case

An article on Law.com highlights the use and potential problems in installing wireless networking (Wi-Fi) in the courthouse. In this instance reporters covering the Scott Petersen murder trial in San Mateo County, California were able to send continual text updates from within the courtroom. Read Peterson Case Puts Courtroom Wi-Fi Use on Trial.

E-Courts 2004 Conference Presentations Available

As an FYI, the presentation slides from the E-Courts 2004 conference are now available at the www.e-courts.org website. It was a great conference with over 500 persons attending.

Just Think About IT

Since it is the beginning of the year, a recent article in ComputerWorld magazine is appropriate to pass along. In this article, the author asks us to reflect on the following points regarding information technology management:

• What did I learn this year?
• What did my staff learn this year?
• Is what you've learned compatible?

Read Just Think About IT.

Florida Supreme Court Recognized

We missed this earlier but the Florida Supreme Court was honored by InfoWorld Magazine by naming them a member of their InfoWorld 100 list for 2004. The court was recognized for innovation in database integration and for their search portal. The Florida Supreme Court's website is located at: www.flcourts.org Congratulations!

National Archives Announces Electronic Records Contract

*** Press Release ***

The National Archives and Records Administration is pleased to announce that it has awarded two contracts for the development of ERA to Lockeed Martin and Harris Company after a rigorous competitive process. ERA is NARA's strategic response to the challenge of electronic records. ERA will authentically preserve and provide access to any kind of electronic record, free from dependency on any specific hardware or software, enabling NARA to carry out its mission into the future.

The award of these contracts heralds the shift in the Electronic Records Archives Program's focus to the system analysis and design phase. The link below connects you to the web site that contains links to the award press conference, read the official press release, or learn more about the chosen contractors. Click Here

To Do List - Disaster Planning and Inventory Control

It has been awhile since I read this article, but it is a good one to think about. The article is an opinion piece by Eric Lundquist published in eWeek magazine on the need to do those bothersome but important system administration duties such as disaster planning, equipment and software inventories, and other "Fall Cleaning" chores. For more click here.

Cooperative Information Technology

Another excellent article was recently published in Computerworld magazine title "Intelligent Disobedience." Many of us have enjoyed the antics of the Dilbert comic strip in recent years and, laugh at the foibles of the "Pointy Haired Boss." Unfortunately, these antics often turn into realities when technical staff go up against management on project design and implementation issues. This article offers some ideas on how these problems might be addressed. Click here to read more.

IT Survival Guide Article from Computerworld

An excellent article from a 40 year Information Technology professional was published recently in Computerworld magazine. The author, Paul Ingevaldson, currently the Chief Information Officer, has been with Ace Hardware for 25 years. He obviously knows something about how to "survive the IT jungle." Click here to read the article.

Wireless Courthouse in Albuquerque

A recent article in ComputerWorld magazine highlights the new wireless capabilities being installed in the Bernalillo County Courthouse in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Read "New Mexico County Pioneers Courthouse Wi-Fi Service" for more.