4 ms·

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

by noja 7y ago

dmix 7y ago
Explain to me how it's useful for security? Because I can guarantee you it will be a giant time-and-money waster with plenty of arbitrary rules that do nothing for security. There's millions of apps and tons come out every year. This nation-wide 'unit' will have to be constantly 'measuring them for security'. This isn't going to accomplish much of anything. Either have a secure phone with pre-installed apps (ie, just a browser plus encrypted phone/messenger, military mapping tools, etc) and let them install nothing (which means they'll just use their private phone any way for the OPSEC fail stuff). Or let them do whatever and selectively ban the ones like TikTok which are massive surveillance potential just based on its popularity alone. These one-off or watching for bad-stuff and react approach makes far more sense to me.
- noja 7y ago
  They have identified TikTok as a threat, and so they have removed that threat.
  - dmix 7y ago
    Yes and I'm advocating to continue taking that one-off approach instead of making some "ministry of apps" in the Navy to pre-approve every one of them.
- jhgaylor 7y ago
  I'm not sure why they would evaluate any apps other than the ones they want to consider allowing people to install. It certainly does sound wasteful to evaluate something no one wants.
- kjaftaedi 7y ago
  It's a device issued by your employer. It doesn't matter if it's a laptop or a phone, you should only be using it for work. Technology is much cheaper than it was 20 years ago. If you're not willing to purchase your own phone or laptop to do what you personally want to do with a device, you're likely not good at budgeting or decision making.
- itronitron 7y ago
  They are not going to evaluate every single app to see if it should be white-listed. I expect they have a short list under consideration.
- kube-system 7y ago
  You are right, there are millions of apps and nobody would be able to manually review them all. The question then becomes, which error state is more acceptable for the organization? A system that occasionally misses malicious apps? Or a system that occasionally blocks a non-malicious app?

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

by noja 7y ago

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

dmix 7y ago

Explain to me how it's useful for security? Because I can guarantee you it will be a giant time-and-money waster with plenty of arbitrary rules that do nothing for security. There's millions of apps and tons come out every year. This nation-wide 'unit' will have to be constantly 'measuring them for security'. This isn't going to accomplish much of anything. Either have a secure phone with pre-installed apps (ie, just a browser plus encrypted phone/messenger, military mapping tools, etc) and let them install nothing (which means they'll just use their private phone any way for the OPSEC fail stuff). Or let them do whatever and selectively ban the ones like TikTok which are massive surveillance potential just based on its popularity alone. These one-off or watching for bad-stuff and react approach makes far more sense to me.

noja 7y ago
They have identified TikTok as a threat, and so they have removed that threat.
- dmix 7y ago
  Yes and I'm advocating to continue taking that one-off approach instead of making some "ministry of apps" in the Navy to pre-approve every one of them.
jhgaylor 7y ago
I'm not sure why they would evaluate any apps other than the ones they want to consider allowing people to install. It certainly does sound wasteful to evaluate something no one wants.
kjaftaedi 7y ago
It's a device issued by your employer. It doesn't matter if it's a laptop or a phone, you should only be using it for work. Technology is much cheaper than it was 20 years ago. If you're not willing to purchase your own phone or laptop to do what you personally want to do with a device, you're likely not good at budgeting or decision making.
itronitron 7y ago
They are not going to evaluate every single app to see if it should be white-listed. I expect they have a short list under consideration.
kube-system 7y ago
You are right, there are millions of apps and nobody would be able to manually review them all. The question then becomes, which error state is more acceptable for the organization? A system that occasionally misses malicious apps? Or a system that occasionally blocks a non-malicious app?