Secure Android kernel could make for 'classified' smart phones

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://gcn.com/articles/2011/10/11/ausa-secure-andriod-kernel-technology.aspx

By Henry Kenyon
GCN.com
Oct 13, 2011

A research team from Google, George Mason University and the National 
Security Agency have developed a hardened kernel for the Android 3.0 
operating system that could solve the problem of using smart phones in 
military operations and emergency response.

The kernel, which is in the final stages of certification testing, opens 
the way for the Army to begin issuing smart phones or tablet-type 
wireless devices to troops in combat operations.

The White House also is interested because the hardened kernel could 
help fulfill a government plan to create a secure national wireless 
network for first responders, Michael McCarthy, operations director of 
the Army’s Brigade Modernization Command’s Mission Command Complex, said 
at the AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington on Oct. 10. 
McCarthy also heads the service’s Connecting Soldiers to Digital 
Applications (CSDA) program, the lead organization involved in selecting 
handheld wireless technologies for military use.

One of the problems vexing Army smart phones has been getting the right 
security accreditation to operate on military networks and eventually on 
classified networks. This is particularly important to allow smart 
phones to connect into battlefield networks, McCarthy said. The initial 
goal is to get the hardware and software accredited.

[...]

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