Security at the Edge: District Defend® Takes on Government Security in the Age of 5G

Much the way cell phones, laptops and tablets have fundamentally transformed civilian life, mobile devices have fundamentally altered the ways that government agencies and workers operate. In today’s world, mobile devices not only extend the reach of government agencies, but also boost productivity and employee satisfaction, all while lowering operating costs, ultimately expanding the reach and capability of government in ways previously unimaginable.

But even more change is on the way.

With 5G wireless networks poised to become nearly ubiquitous in the next few years, the technology will boost what mobile devices can do and accelerate adoption of edge devices across public and private sectors alike. 5G promises to improve real-time data and analytics capabilities for decisionmakers and first responders in the field, increase the number of devices on a single network and ultimately introduce faster technology into an even faster world.

As the government worker becomes ever-more connected, the need for device security and management must follow suit, both to protect the public and to enable innovation.

For this reason, Jason Myers, a technical director for product at Booz Allen Hamilton, helped to develop and launch District Defend®, a solution that provides government agencies with secure, cost-effective mobile technology for the modern age.

“Ultimately, organizations are still only as secure as their weakest link when it comes to end-to-end mobility,” Myers notes. “With greater reliance on connected edge devices, it's even more critical that those devices are secure and comply with the organizational security requirements.”

District Defend Improves Situational Awareness for Devices at the Edge

As edge devices proliferate, District Defend can help to address several new threat vectors, including the need to more closely monitor device activity and location. As devices both become more connected and more widespread, it will become more critical than ever that agency leadership know where their devices are and who is accessing them. It’s also imperative for IT teams to understand how critical information is being stored on a device as well as how hardware components are being used to protect sensitive certificates and keys.

“Many devices focus on how the data's being transmitted, but once somebody gets their hands on one of the devices they can be fairly easy to break into. It's really a hardening of the endpoints that’s going to protect those devices, not only when they're in organizational spaces but assuming that those devices are going to be outside of organizational boundaries at some point,” explains Myers.

When installed, District Defend gives IT administrators full insight into the last-known location of enterprise IT assets and enforces data-at-rest encryption and enables pre-boot full disk wipes to ensure long-term data protection. These capabilities can help agencies prepare for the threat that lost or stolen devices can pose.

“Lost and stolen devices don't just compromise the organization due to the data stored on those devices, they also introduce potential for attackers to actually introduce exploits back into those enterprise networks,” explains Myers. “With these edge devices having greater access and being globally dispersed, it's crucial for organizations to have centralized control with the ability to monitor all devices across all enterprise scenarios.”

District Defend Automates Edge Security

Moreover, District Defend can help to mitigate human error, adjusting security controls to protect devices even on unsafe networks or locations.

“Mobility at its core provides flexibility both in how processes can be executed and the location of the work itself. However, just because technology enables that flexibility, it doesn't mean that all locations or environments are safe,” explains Myers.

The solution automatically matches the security settings of a device to the security requirements of its physical location, enabling customizable security policies and dynamic command and control without the need to rely on the end user. It also taps radio frequency identification (RFID) to communicate with devices even when powered down so the controls adjust appropriately when powered on.

Ultimately, these solutions will help to ensure a secure, informed future for government agencies in the age of 5G. One in which mobility is an enabler of both the mission and the worker, without being a vulnerability.

“The future involves end-users having the immediate access necessary to perform their jobs, save lives, and ultimately stop global threats,” says Myers. “It means devices being intelligent and automatically addressing security so users can focus on the mission.”

To learn more about how District Defend can bolster employee productivity and efficiency while meeting the highest standards of Federal Government security, click here.