Whether working at a government office or remotely using GFE or BYO, mobile devices pose significant information security risks to government agencies. Through a variety of attack methods, such as compromising Wi-Fi connections, the use of malicious access points, attacks on mobile operating systems, side-loading of apps, and introduction of risky/non-compliant apps, cybercriminals can compromise devices to gain access to government networks and data.

Managing Employee Devices And Data

The vast number of mobile devices used in conducting official public sector business creates a significant threat landscape. Government employees and contractors use mobile devices for basic tasks such as accessing email but also for other productivity and information gathering needs requiring government network access. As a result, government IT security professionals must manage not only each government employee’s primary PC, but must also attempt to manage employee and contractor mobile devices. This effectively doubles the number of endpoints that need to be secured.

Government agencies’ usage of Microsoft Office 365 and Teams has skyrocketed (over 900% for some agencies). Unfortunately, the cyber threats to the GFE and BYOD mobile devices that are accessing O365 has also significantly increased. Without implementing mobile threat defense (MTD) solutions, agencies and their “Zero Trust” initiatives are exposed and at risk.

This complex challenge is unique to mobile since IT lacks device administration access and remains a guest on mobile devices, as in the case of BYOD environments, and therefore cannot ensure timely updates of app and operating system security patches.

Preventing Rogue Network Attacks

Rogue network attacks are problematic even for government entities that have robust network access policies and procedures in place. Rogue networks can be disguised to appear as official networks, so even employees attempting to comply with network-access policies can be deceived. Disguised, rogue networks make devices susceptible to man-in-the-middle (MITM) and other surveillance attacks.

Managing And Mitigating The App Threat

Mobile apps pose two kinds of threats. One relates to legitimate apps that nevertheless have code that makes them vulnerable to attack or leak data. Another type of threat is that from malicious apps, including apps that are deceptively named or contain deliberately malicious code in order to spy on users and compromise mobile devices.