News

Mobile devices a cybersecurity liability for government networks

The spread of mobile devices and bring-your-own-device policies have opened up a variety of security issues for enterprises across the globe. By allowing employees to access company networks with their personal devices, businesses are vulnerable to attack from hackers who would exploit those entry points.

BYOD troubles are not isolated to the private sector, however. Threatpost reported that the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Defense recently released an assessment on current usage and monitoring of commercial mobile devices (CMD) within governmental operations. That study found several glaring oversights and failures to properly secure government networks from the threat of malware.

According to the OIG report, the Chief Information Officers in question had no system in place to track CMDs being used throughout the network and had no knowledge of more than 14,000 being used under its watch. In addition, users were allowed at several sites to store sensitive data on their personal devices. Auditors were further alarmed by a lack of protocols in place to secure that data, either by encryption or with the ability to wipe devices remotely in case they were lost or stolen.

The report provided several steps for improving network defenses in regard to CMDs. The CIOs should implement a management system allowing them access and control data being stored by devices connected to the network. All software and applications installed on CMDs should be approved by a federal oversight body. Additionally, if information is being stored or transferred with mobile devices, those files should be encrypted to prevent cybercriminals from accessing sensitive data.

The spread of BYOD policies has given cyberthieves access to a number of network entry points to exploit. Protect sensitive data transmitted over the internet by getting an SSL certificate today. 

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