Participants in the Dialogue
1. Manager
2. Researcher
3. Information technician
4. Client
Introduction
Manager: This dialog is focuses on the topic of Information Security. Present in the dialog are the researcher of the article on information security and I, the manager of the company, that needs should embrace information security for better service delivery. The dialogue is held in the company’s boardroom and is chaired by the manager who wants to know more about the incorporation of information security into his business. With me is one of my employees (Information Technician) from the Information Security department who has accompanied me to this discussion forum. As the manager, I want the technician to be part of the discussion so that in case information security is adopted in the organization, the technician will be conversant with the entire concept. Also, present in the conversation is an invited guest, who happens to be one of my clients. I invited this guest so that I can get a chance to hear the suggestion of the customers regarding the need to improve the service delivery.
Manager to the participants: Let me take this opportunity to welcome all of you in this discussion. We are going to hear from each other our views on the idea of adopting information security in my company. First, let us hear from the information technician. Has there been any problem so far regarding the security of the company information?
Information technician: Yes, there has been a problem.
Manager: Which type of problem?
Information technician: We have had an instance in which we were trying to send some information to the clients through their emails only to realize that the information was distorted. Our clients received corrupted versions of the emails and we had to resend them again.
Manager: With us in this conversation is one of the clients. May I take this chance to give him the opportunity of saying briefly whether he was among the affected. Were you affected?
Manager: Did that worried you?
Manager: (Referring to the client) the problem you experienced has been described by an article written by someone who is here with us and we would like to get some clarification from him. (Turning to the writer) You wrote on an interesting topic of information security. Can you identify the problem that our clients experienced in the course of receiving information sent by the company?
Writer: Yes, I can identify it with what I wrote. The main reason for writing the article was that I had conducted several researches in most of the big companies in United States and realized that information security is the bottom-line of any growth. I found out that if the information of the company remains insecure, anything dangerous could happen. Vital information can be rendered useless for instance by viruses. Viruses can also affect the sending of the information, which is sensitive in terms of time and content.
Manager:( Referring to the writer) you really did a wonderful research. I wonder. You must have included our company in the research because the problems you are talking about are just what we are trying to address now. (They all laugh. Then the manager continued). I saw that you mentioned virus scanners in your article. Is that right?
Writer: You are very right. A virus scanner comes in handy as far as information security is concerned.
Writer: normally, like your client has expressed, the virus signatures get into our computer systems and attach themselves to files that are executable. When these files are sent through the internet, the recipients will receive them in their emails in corrupted forms. They will therefore, not be in the position of accessing the information contained therein. The work of the virus scanners is therefore, to search and detect these virus signatures. They detect them by scanning through the executable documents. Once detected, it will be the work of the information technician to remove these affected files from the computer so that they cannot interfere with other files. Through this way, the security of the information in the company will be guaranteed.
Manager: Thank you so much for the information on virus scanners. Before we end this session, I saw some part of your article concerning the use of technology in business. Mention this briefly for us because we have not yet implemented any of the technology you said.
Information Technician: (Interrupts) We would like to know more about the use of the particular information technology you have researched, especially the way they influence the performance of the business.
Writer: regarding information technology, I discovered that the most successful companies have adopted the use of Tracking systems and EDI.
Manager: What are the uses of these types of technologies?
Writer: They can help in Order Processing, Electronic data interchange and in Tracking System.
Information Technician: (Interrupts) Do you recommend that we adopt it in our business?
Writer: Yes. It will give you company a lot of competitive advantage.
Manager: Will it ensure better customer service?
Information Technician: (Also interrupts) Let me also comment before the writer speaks. Just as the client has expressed the relief that they as the customers will have if the information technology is adopted, mine is also an expression of the relief that, we as the employees, in the information technology department will receive. In this regards, I want to put it that we have always been faced with many problems where a lot of paper work is involved in the processing and passage of information. However, with the adoption of the tracking systems and EDI, as expressed by the writer, the transformation will really be positive, saving our time and energy.
Writer: yes. It will bring more efficiency in your customer service.
Manager: (Referring to Information technician) With our technician here, and the representative of the clients with us (looking at the client), we as the management of the company are going to adopt the information security so as to give our company a competitive advantage. Thank you very much for your participation in this dialogue.
