“The Department of Defense (DoD) recently conducted an audit to evaluate how well the most powerful military force on Earth handled the security issues concerning personal mobile devices in conjunction with its professional duties,” Marshall Honorof reports for TechNewsDaily.
“The audit covered the use of iOS, Android and Windows mobile devices among Army personnel and in Army facilities, where the devices joined on-site Wi-Fi networks. Thousands of American businesses face the same issues concerning what is commonly called ‘bring your own device,’ or BYOD, security,” Honorof reports. “The DoD discovered weaknesses in the Army’s mobile strategy right away. The Army’s chief information officer, Lt. Gen. Susan S. Lawrence, who oversees her subordinates’ technology, failed to give a number of critical instructions.”
Honorof reports, “Lawrence did not require secure storage for data on mobiles, insist on keeping devices free of malware, monitor mobiles while hooked up to computers or even employ training or user agreements to keep military secrets under wraps, the report said. The Army does not even know where all of its mobiles are. In theory, personal mobile devices need to be authorized before military use, but the audit found almost 15,000 unauthorized devices in use.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The U.S. military is very good at what it does, but efficiency isn’t its strong point, to say the least. They need to get a plan in place to only allow registered mobile devices to access any military information, however mundane. When there should be no unauthorized devices in use, yet thousands upon thousands are found, something is profoundly broken.
Banning the use of Android BYODs, due to their inherent lack of security/rampant and ongoing security issues, should be the first order given.
What is the whole purpose of the armed forces? It is designed to kill people and break things. We have to look at the military as a separate and unique institution with separate and unique requirements. It’s different from all other institutions in our society, and our only standard must be excellence – no matter whose feelings get hurt. – Rush Limbaugh
We owe our troops the opportunity to serve in the best-planned, best-equipped, and best-led military force in the world. – John Kerry
Related articles:
Canadian federal department warns government workers of BlackBerry insecurity – February 27, 2013
FBI’s Android security warning means Apple’s iPhone beats Android for BYOD enterprise – October 16, 2012
FBI issues warning over Android malware attacks – October 15, 2012
Researchers discover serious flaw in Android app security, say HTC and Samsung ignore issue – September 28, 2012
Apple’s iPhone has passed a key security threshold – August 13, 2012
Android permissions flaw allows eavesdropping, data theft, location tracking – December 2, 2011
Massive HTC Android security flaw leaves security expert speechless – October 2, 2011
Apple’s iOS unaffected by malware as Android exploits surge 76% – August 24, 2011
Android malware records phone calls; iPhone users unaffected – August 2, 2011
Symantec: Apple iOS offers ‘full protection,’ Google Android ‘little protection’ vs. malware attacks – June 29, 2011
Malware apps spoof Android Market to infect Android phones – June 21, 2011
Google forced to pull several malware-infested apps from Android market – June 8, 2011
Android malware sees explosive growth; even faster than with PCs – April 27, 2011
Virus-laden apps infest Google’s ‘open’ Android platform; iPhone unaffected – March 3, 2011
Security firm warns of new Android trojan that can steal personal information; iPhone unaffected – December 30, 2010
Trojan infects Android smartphones; iPhone unaffected – August 10, 2010
Millions of Android phone users slammed by malicious data theft app – July 29, 2010
Unlike proactive Apple, reactive Google doesn’t block malware from Android app store – June 4, 2010
Malware designed to steal bank information pops up in Google’s Android app store – January 11, 2010
The most phone would be the iPhone. Just ask the FBI and CIA.
What tool this writer is. Using “Rogue iPhone” in the title. It wasn’t just an iPhone they had problems with, they had problems with all mobile phones. Why single out Apples phone. Sensational writing belongs in the People magazine or TMZ.
Probably partial to why Apple stock is in the crapper. Mostly all bad mobile news puts iPhone, Apple or iPad in the headlines to get the hits. Hurts Apple as a company in the long run.
MDN the comment was not intended at you. It was meant for the jerk who wrote the article.
Writers seldom write their own headlines. — that’s what editors do. Since only an example if a single iPhone was cited, the headline really should read:
U.S Army threatened
by rogue smartphones
This sensationalistic headline is spreading across the Web now. William Randolph Hearst, who created the concept of false, “yellow journalism” to bait America into the Spanish-American War, would be proud.
Someone needs to trace the original source for this story. That will be the Web site with an anti-Apple agenda.
“The U.S. military is very good at what it does..”
yeah, they’re very good at sucking the life force of the Jeffersonian Experiment through undeclared wars on third world toilets and enriching parasitic defense contractors and foreign banking. The US military is a whore.
Why do you insist on being offensive?
why do you insist that truth is offensive?
The “truth” is not offensive. It’s your blanket statement that the “US military is a whore” that I find quite offensive. As for truth, it wasn’t the military pushing us into Iraq. And irrespective of the truth, one can disagree without being disagreeable.
you’re offended, so what?
re botvinnik
MDN — PLEASE start applying my “must be eight years old to post” criterion.
Also, I’d like to suggest a filter — anyone who can’t make their point without writing whore, crack whore, fsck, shit, ass, retard etc. does not deserve to be posted.
Yeah, and ban free press too while you are at it!
The U.S. military doesn’t go to war with anyone unless they are ordered to by our elected government. Pull your head out of your ass, you Yankee lovin’ schmuck.
every soldier is an individual, they decide for themselves to follow immoral orders..if a solider follows an order to kill innocent civilians in Mi Lai, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Somalia, Afghanistan..will they also follow immoral orders to fire upon American citizens?
if they’re of the goon mentality of “Tired Of Returds”, they’ll do it in a New York minute.
Ja Wohl, I vas only following der orders!
You Jews get on der train!…You Cherokees get on der trail!…You Christians get in der Colosseum!
“Callin’ it your job don’t make it right, boss.” – Cool Hand Luke
Yous got sumpin aginst whores?
The truth is that the military is responsive to its civilian leadership and has faithfully carried out the mission given it by them. If you don’t like what they do, stop electing Republicans who think America rules the world.
What a fucking idiot. The military does not start wars. Our government does, and they do so for political reasons. It was Obama that began extensive use of killer drones, not the military. It was Obama that gave the order to kill bin Laden, the military did not act independent of civilian leadership.
To the contrary, its our military that argues against using military force: THEY ARE THE ONES GOING TO DIE, not the politicians, and certainly not idiots like Botvinnick.
As for efficiency, the LEAST efficient part of our government is Congress. They spend on projects/programs to get re-elected, not because the project/program should worthy of PUBLIC monies. Where/how do you think all those deficit budgets come from? I shouldn’t ask a question like that here, the participants have demonstrated on many occasions that they have no concept beyond “what can I get for free, and who will give it to me.”.
you are tragically mistaken.
“…many mobile devices had no password protection, ran on outdated operating systems (leaving them open to exploits) or had no protective software installed.”
I guess those “rogue smartphones” weren’t iPhones, right?
Maybe the headline should read:
U.S Army threatened
by rogue dumbasses
When I worked for a DOD contractor inside a Secret facility, thy had a simple rule: no radio devices or recording devices allowed.
This eliminates all cellphones and smartphones, all tablets, and all but the dumbest and oldest DOD computers.
I get the idea that some branches/divisions of the US military are better organized and more security savvy than others. Why they can’t all communicate and organize a cooperative security strategy is beyond my comprehension. This doesn’t sound like a diversity strategy. It sounds like a clueless strategy, except where somehow, someone, kicks some ass and does it right.
the audit found almost 15,000 unauthorized devices in use etc.
This is all related to basic network security. Put one person who knows what they’re doing in charge with total responsibility and control. Any decent computer science graduate knows this stuff inside out.
Instead, it’s as if the military hands this stuff off to whoever, make it up as you go along. Catastrophe. The Chinese are laughing their asses off. No wonder China was able to bot ALL US federal Windows boxes connected to the Internet by 2007.
Their first mistake was making a woman a general and putting her in charge of anything.
I read the last sentence in MDN’s take as, …the best laid military force in the world.
I must need new glasses :-/
=:~)
BYOD is not something our military should allow. Have a plan. Enforce it.
“botvinnik
every soldier is an individual, they decide for themselves to follow immoral orders..if a solider follows an order to kill innocent civilians in Mi Lai, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Somalia, Afghanistan..will they also follow immoral orders to fire upon American citizens?”
I assume that you’re American, right? You seem remarkably ignorant of your own nation’s recent history; I suggest you look up the events at Kent State University. Neil Young, a Canadian, wrote a song about it, ‘Ohio’, as did the English folk singer Harvey Andrews, ‘Hey Sandy’
It seems that I, an Englishman, is better educated about contemporary American history than Americans are.
Then you probably remember when it was the English Soldiers doing the shooting of Americans here?
I can not believe the arguments about the military here
i am glad we have a military but I’m not proud that as a country we have basically been at continuous war since 1812
in George orwell’s 1984 the last line was “you can’t tell the pigs from the men or the men from the pigs” has certainly come home to roost. the america i grew up in certainly was a place that believed in the rule of law respected sovereignty and was the guy who stopped the fights . now our library check outs are watched our phones are tapped our e-mail searched for key words and we are all wage slaves to some degree or another . our government if you try a contact robo replies you and fox news twists every situation into a strained logical turnaround to push their agenda . Once we were heroes can we ever be again? the replies and polarity they express from England bashing to freedom fries is way more dangerous than military secrets slipping out on a cell phone. in fact England got suckered by Cheney and france was smart enough to stay out of the briar patch and not touch the tar baby. I’m glad botvinnik is standing up to everyone and saying what he thinks i can take what i need and leave the rest but i at least want to hear it before i throw it out so lay off the shout downs and ignore what you think is wrong with his argument or reasonably defend your point of view .
The contractor Army of today is a mess. By that I do not mean to immune many fine people who serve, but the institutional Army and DoD is a mess in desperate need of overhaul.
The Cold War Army could be dropped in any pace on earth and generate it’s own power, supply it’s own water, feed itself, repair it’s own equipment, cook it’s own meals, write it’s own software.
Soldiers who wasted supplies or equipment could have a statement of charges drawn up and get hit in the pocket for negligence. Soldiers slept in tents, bathed out of steel helmets and could make passable chow on the fly with field rations.
They also were not tatted up like a carny, overweight and living in air conditioned trailers in the desert. Dependent upon contractors, they cannot sustain themselves without a second Army of overpaid contractors.
Just like Steve Jobs has famously postulated, the bozos have taken over much of the senior leadership, and truth be told, quality leadership in our military has been the exception rather than the rule over time.
Our country is bankrupting it’s treasury even as we buy weapons we do not need, base our troops where they are not needed and wanted and carry a force rife with duplication of function, corruption and inefficiency. Why would anyone expect that the IT would nt be inept?
one look at the photo of the mercenaries supposedly guarding our embassy drinking vodka out of each others asses lets us know everything you say is true . the looting of our treasury by Halliburton is a crime beyond comprehension. For the same people who held up a bag of baking soda and called that exhibit “evidence” and then went down that path of deceit and spent billions to blow holes in the sand only to tell us it costs too much to fix the holes in our teeth, to call us deadbeats and try to take our undeserved “entitlements” away. To put a man in harms way and then house him in a rat infested hospital is an equal crime and insult added to injury. ask youself how much of the interest on our national debt ends up in the 56 thousand dollars a day that mit romney makes in interest on his money . do you have enough to tie up in government bonds for 30 years? don’t believe the red herring that it’s owed to the Chinese its owed to the vanderbuilts,the whitneys
, the Melons, the Rockafellas .
This iPhone “scare” headline actually came from Fox News, you know – the fair and slanted news for the ill informed. Look at their iPhone slamming headline then read the story. How many references to iPhone do you see and what is the nature of the security risk? Do you think the story justifies the headline?
They need more iPhones.