Feds Failing To Secure Their Mobile Devices

The federal government may have specific policies for security, but many of its users aren't adopting secure mobile practices and behaviors, according to a new study by the Mobile Work Exchange.

The public-private partnership's study, which was commissioned by Cisco Systems, is based on data gathered from the Mobile Work Exchange's self-assessment tool for organizations to measure the security of their mobile workforce. The report focused on tablets, smartphones, and laptops, and found that 90 percent of government users who were assessed by the tool use at least one of those devices for work.

More than 40 percent of government users are putting their agencies and devices at risk, according to the report, which encompassed 155 users and 30 different government agencies, mostly civilian. On the flip side, 86 percent lock their computers when they leave their desks and 78 percent store files in a secure place.

More than 30 percent use public wireless networks, the study found, 52 percent don't use multifactor authentication or encrypt their data, and 25 percent don't use passwords for their mobile devices. Those that do are employing weak passwords, however: One in three create "easy" passwords, such as "1234" or "password." Around 15 percent of the government users say they have downloaded a personal app on their work mobile devices, and 10 percent say they have opened either an email or text from a sender they didn't know.

"The 2014 Mobilometer Tracker study shows that 6 percent of government employees who use a mobile device for work say they have lost or misplaced their phones. In the average federal agency, that’s more than 3,500 chances for a security breach. Organizations need to take the necessary steps to protect their data and minimize the risk of data loss," says Larry Payne, Cisco vice president for its U.S. Federal group.

Close to 60 percent of feds don't secure their agencies' data properly, and more than one in four are not getting any security training for mobile. About half say their agencies have official mobile device programs. The good news: Government users scored better than users in the private sector, where 60 percent of users say they have downloaded a nonwork-related app on the mobile devices they use for work. And more than half of agencies require users to register their mobile devices, while only 21 percent of private industry organizations do so.

“While the government is significantly safer than its counterparts, there is still much work to be done,” says Cindy Auten, general manager of Mobile Work Exchange. “Ensuring policies are being enforced is the best way to secure critical government data. Closing this gap equips government employees with the knowledge to thwart potential security breaches.”

The full report is available here for download.

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