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U.S. Navy bans TikTok from government-issued mobile devices

reuters.com

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Re: U.S. Navy bans TikTok from government-issued mobile devices

#41

Post by beatgammit »

ralfd wrote: post #38
Trias11 wrote: post #26

Why's "ban" needed? Government should have full control over government issued devices and only whitelisted modifications should be allowed. If it's not this way - someone at government should be held accountable for jeopardizing the security of the nation.

> A Navy spokesman said Naval and Marine personnel who use government issued smart devices are generally allowed to use popular commercial apps, including common social media apps, but from time to time specific programs that present security threats are banned. Should the Navy whitelist Ebay and Amazon? What about the Walmart app? If Target has one should they then apply to get whitelisted? What about navy personal…

Do they need those apps to carry out their duties? If not, that should remain on personal devices and left in a secure location while on duty. There have been too many incidents of apps like Strava publishing locations that it's just not worth missing something important.

Re: U.S. Navy bans TikTok from government-issued mobile devices

#42

Post by choward »

ralfd wrote: post #38
Trias11 wrote: post #26

Why's "ban" needed? Government should have full control over government issued devices and only whitelisted modifications should be allowed. If it's not this way - someone at government should be held accountable for jeopardizing the security of the nation.

> A Navy spokesman said Naval and Marine personnel who use government issued smart devices are generally allowed to use popular commercial apps, including common social media apps, but from time to time specific programs that present security threats are banned. Should the Navy whitelist Ebay and Amazon? What about the Walmart app? If Target has one should they then apply to get whitelisted? What about navy personal…

All the "apps" you mentioned should just be well designed web sites. No reason for an app.

Re: U.S. Navy bans TikTok from government-issued mobile devices

#44

Post by dmix »

noja wrote: post #43
dmix wrote: post #40

Just what the Navy needs, more hyper bureaucracy for some weak attempt at security.

Hyper bureaucracy? It's a whitelist for trusted apps on a government device.

One off bans makes more sense, a whole unit set up to pre-approve millions of potential apps is crazy-town.

Then they use Google Chrome and hit a phishing-hole site and get their phone owned. But don't worry, they weren't allowed to install Netflix!

The problem here is open-source intelligence because TikTok is very popular among young members who spend all their free time in their bunk on their phone. Limiting the apps might help with that, but I'm highly skeptical. There's already plenty of restrictions on social media use for armed-forces members. I believe that path is the way to go - create restrictions on posting personal information.

Having some paper pusher unit pre-approving millions of potential apps sounds like a giant waste of time. It makes a lot more sense to react to bad stuff (like one-off reactions for a massively popular video sharing app with sketchy Chinese ownership) than pre-emptively ban everything, simply because it won't do much for security beyond what Apple and Google are already doing in the app store.

Re: U.S. Navy bans TikTok from government-issued mobile devices

#45

Post by threatofrain »

ralfd wrote: post #38
Trias11 wrote: post #26

Why's "ban" needed? Government should have full control over government issued devices and only whitelisted modifications should be allowed. If it's not this way - someone at government should be held accountable for jeopardizing the security of the nation.

> A Navy spokesman said Naval and Marine personnel who use government issued smart devices are generally allowed to use popular commercial apps, including common social media apps, but from time to time specific programs that present security threats are banned. Should the Navy whitelist Ebay and Amazon? What about the Walmart app? If Target has one should they then apply to get whitelisted? What about navy personal…

This is a work phone and people should have an extra cell phone for personal uses, and when they're at a government job with sensitive information they should be using their work phone. People who don't work with sensitive information or interesting responsibilities can use whatever phone they want if they don't mind totally forfeiting their privacy.

But eBay? Amazon? Walmart? Popular apps and games? Sure, get those whitelisted. Or are we thinking about maximizing the value proposition of a work phone at a government job?

Re: U.S. Navy bans TikTok from government-issued mobile devices

#46

Post by account73466 »

Trias11 wrote: post #26

Why's "ban" needed? Government should have full control over government issued devices and only whitelisted modifications should be allowed. If it's not this way - someone at government should be held accountable for jeopardizing the security of the nation.

I guess that it is phrased that way in order to signal other non-government organizations that they should have a look and probably ban it as well.

Re: U.S. Navy bans TikTok from government-issued mobile devices

#47

Post by noja »

dmix wrote: post #44
noja wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hyper bureaucracy? It's a whitelist for trusted apps on a government device.

One off bans makes more sense, a whole unit set up to pre-approve millions of potential apps is crazy-town. Then they use Google Chrome and hit a phishing-hole site and get their phone owned. But don't worry, they weren't allowed to install Netflix! The problem here is open-source intelligence because TikTok is very popular among young members who spend all their free time in their bunk on their phone. Limiting the a…

So because it adds a layer of security rather than 100% watertight perfection, it is bad?

Re: U.S. Navy bans TikTok from government-issued mobile devices

#48

Post by jomoio »

choward wrote: post #42
ralfd wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A Navy spokesman said Naval and Marine personnel who use government issued smart devices are generally allowed to use popular commercial apps, including common social media apps, but from time to time specific programs that present security threats are banned. Should the Navy whitelist Ebay and Amazon? What about the Walmart app? If Target has one should they then apply to get whitelisted? What about navy personal…

All the "apps" you mentioned should just be well designed web sites. No reason for an app.

Good point, we'll get the Navy right on that.

Re: U.S. Navy bans TikTok from government-issued mobile devices

#49

Post by baobabKoodaa »

rshnotsecure wrote: post #29

Not surprising. For several days now TikTok has left the information of 700 million of their users available via an open S3 bucket. It is online now at this very moment and includes IDFAs from Apple as well as interestingly, although I bet American companies do this to, the MAC Addresses. This is significant because my understanding is that Apple rotates / randomizes the MAC address because those can be used to, quit…

Source needed. I wasn't able to find anything on this by googling.

Re: U.S. Navy bans TikTok from government-issued mobile devices

#50

Post by webo »

rshnotsecure wrote: post #29

Not surprising. For several days now TikTok has left the information of 700 million of their users available via an open S3 bucket. It is online now at this very moment and includes IDFAs from Apple as well as interestingly, although I bet American companies do this to, the MAC Addresses. This is significant because my understanding is that Apple rotates / randomizes the MAC address because those can be used to, quit…

Quick google search didn’t reveal anything, source?
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