Page 11 - FCW, September 30, 2016

In the coming year, government agencies can expect innovations in mobile technology that will underscore the importance of having end-to-end security, data
privacy and protection. The number of devices managed by the enterprise and used by the workforce overall will continue to increase, so mobile technology will become more of a given regardless of anyone’s role or function.
“That will be accomplished by providing government customers with technology that is as secure as it needs to be to mitigate risk, but without compromising productivity,” says Johnny Overcast, director
of government sales at Samsung Electronics America.
From a technology perspective,
the Samsung Knox mobile security platform is designed to meet current security demands, as well as the demands for new mobile applications and requirements coming down the pike. Knox provides platform and application security, as well as mobile device management.
One anticipated trend is
support for new forms of identity management for user authentication. The Common Access Card and Personal Identity Verification card are used widely in government to access the network via a mobile device. Eventually those credentials will be stored on the device itself. That will increase ease of use and adoption of mobile devices, says Overcast.
Mobile devices will be used more often as key cards to access buildings. And with new location- based security technology under development at Samsung called “context aware” security, agencies will be able to recognize where a person is and secure that device automatically if necessary.
Biometrics for access control
on mobile devices has made significant inroads. Eventually they will become the norm to make devices more secure choices for access and authentication. Samsung Knox supports biometrics such as fingerprint scans and iris scans, says Overcast.
Also built into the Samsung devices and Knox is support for APIs that allow for granular mobile device management. These provide strong security, but also let agencies control the device to meet compliance and policy requirements.
The “bring your own device” movement is another part of the government mobile landscape. Samsung’s secure workspace concept supports the move to
BYOD, says Overcast, because it lets agencies compartmentalize different applications on the device. A trusted integrity management agent is constantly scanning the device to ensure nothing malicious
is occurring.
“If there is, the workspace is shut
down and is made inaccessible,” he says. Still, agencies must determine first if BYOD makes sense for them,
and put the appropriate policies in place before moving forward. “The biggest impediment to BYOD is more on the policy side not the technology side.”
There is no a one-size-fits-all solution to securing a mobile device. Agencies must consider how it will be used to determine what level security is needed, says Overcast. Samsung Knox offers that flexibility. “We allow for the enterprise to customize
our devices based on different use cases,” he says.
Some of the key aspects of an enterprise mobility strategy include enrolling mobile devices into the enterprise network and remote management of those devices. Samsung provides key management features, including comprehensive management with more than
1600 device APIs, Active Directory integration, Knox mobile enrollment, and enterprise billing to separate work and personal data costs.
Agencies should adopt best practices to avoid becoming the weakest link, which means embracing security basics when it comes to fortifying networks, says Overcast. Adhere to agency security policies; use passwords, biometrics and security tools; and follow common sense practices.
For more on mobile security, go to samsung.com/government
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