“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
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