http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2015/02/justice-dhs-quarantine-smartphones-returning-abroad/105576/
By Aliya Sternstein
Nextgov.com
February 18, 2015
Officials at the departments of Justice and Homeland Security typically
expect employees’ smartphones will be bugged when they travel overseas.
So, they are experimenting with various ways to neutralize foreign spy
gear.
For years, the FBI has warned government and corporate executives not to
use hotel Wi-Fi connections, because of reports that foreign travelers
were unknowingly downloading spyware.
When DHS personnel travel, “we understand you go there, you go to Ukraine,
you come back, there's a good chance that the BlackBerry or any other
device, Androids, iOS, whatever, is probably owned. We get that," said
Vincent Sritapan, a cybersecurity division program manager at the DHS
Science and Technology Directorate.
To contain the damage, Homeland Security limits what employees can see on
their mobile device overseas, and "when it comes back, it's usually
quarantined," he added.
These are not precautions. There’s a good chance malicious software really
is on the phone or tablet.
[...]
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