Justice, DHS Quarantine Smartphones Returning from Abroad

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

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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