ISSUES IN TELECOMM NETWORK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Abstract: Computers offer the possibilities of integrated control, process optimisation,

enhanced operator interfaces, data concentration, data storage and systematic

approach to Network Management. This led to using programming concepts in

various industrial applications. Telecomm industry is one of the widely influenced

ones with the idea of computerising various jobs, which otherwise require a large

group of technically trained professionals. Telecomm Network Management

System (TNMS) is one of such applications dealing with Telecomm Network

Manager’s (TNM) duties. TNMS uses the client-server concept, with remote

procedure calls as the standard way of interaction. Script languages have emerged

that explicitly support agent-oriented programming - in that they make available

easy-to-use programming constructs to build autonomous objects. These objects

not only may accumulate knowledge and perform reasoning, but also may also

migrate between host machines by their own decision. All agent-based systems,

impressive as their potential benefits may rightly seem, may, however, be

jeopardized in a commercial world by the lack of appropriate security

mechanisms. This paper analyses the security aspects of the current state-of-the-

art TNMS and shows the problems of using mobile-agents in today’s scenario.

Indeed, most agent systems do not address error recovery and auditing, privacy,

and various aspects of trust among the participants. The aim of this paper is not to

discuss the idea underlying mobile agents in general: only issues related to safety,

security, and reliability is considered.

Keywords: mobile agents, security, cryptography, telecommunication.