Over the past few years, the number and severity of large-scale hacks have increased significantly. It seems as if every other week a company announces that millions of customers have had their confidential data stolen or leaked. As criminal hackers gain more of the public’s attention, policymakers are starting to take the issue seriously.
Top levels of the government are high priority targets for cybercriminals and it seems that officials are beginning to realize this. The White House has announced plans to completely ban all personal cell phones from the property. These talks have come about after the White House Chief of Staff John Kelly had his smartphone breached by foreign operatives. Since it was discovered that Kelly’s phone had been hacked an administrative ban was placed on all cell phones inside of the West Wing.
If this ban were to be implemented it would affect all White House staff members as well as anyone who tours the building. The fear is that allowing non-secured smartphones on the White House property puts confidential information at risk.
While the increased security benefits from this policy are obvious, not everyone is in support of the new rules. A lot of White House staff do not have access to classified information and use their personal phones to keep in touch with family while on the property. These individuals would be negatively affected by the cellphone ban.
I understand the arguments of those who don’t support this new policy but the confidential information contained on the White House network is too important to leave vulnerable. If foreign agents are able to remotely access this data by connecting to the White House network through their phones then these new policies should be implemented.
What are your thoughts on the issue? Should the White House ban personal cellphones on the property?
Does anyone have an idea for an alternative policy?
Source:
https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/28/the-white-house-wants-to-ban-cellphones-citing-security-risk/
Additional Articles:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-27/white-house-is-said-to-weigh-personal-mobile-phone-ban-for-staff
http://www.newsweek.com/white-house-may-ban-personal-cell-phone-use-even-though-trump-still-uses-his-723790
Source:
https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/28/the-white-house-wants-to-ban-cellphones-citing-security-risk/
Additional Articles:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-27/white-house-is-said-to-weigh-personal-mobile-phone-ban-for-staff
http://www.newsweek.com/white-house-may-ban-personal-cell-phone-use-even-though-trump-still-uses-his-723790
This sound like a over-reaction, but I find no plan better than this non-secured smartphones. Usage of each IT device triggers potential risk. An easy, safe, and cheap policy is this policy.
ReplyDelete