Dumb Problems with Smart Phones

The US Army recently picked Android to power its Joint Battle Command Platform, a new Army smartphone that will hopefully keep all soldiers properly networked.  The hope that this new platform will be able to run Apps (applications) like the Blue Force Tracker and other programs to keep the Army on the cutting edge of the technological battlefield.  The Army is also hoping to be able to use this technology for "critical messaging" to send medevac requests and other reports.

Ignoring the logistic problem of purchasing and supplying these smartphones to every soldier, this program has an extraordinary potential.  A greater situational awareness should theoretically be able to completely eliminate all incidents of friendly fire, and soldiers getting lost should become a thing of the past.  Many military maps have already been turned into Apps by both Raytheon and Textron.

One issue, however, with using smartphones for military business is the problem of keeping them secure.  The US Military conducted an audit looking into how smartphones were currently being used.  The study tracked the use of 842 mobile devices, and discovered that while many lacked updated security software, some didn’t have any at all and some didn’t even have password protection.  It also found that the Army wasn’t even aware of where all of the thousands of smartphones it has purchased for soldiers are, and that many have likely been lost and replaced by the soldiers personal phone without informing the supervisor.  One Chief Information Officer who took part in the audit was shocked to discover that while he was tracking 180 mobile devices on his network, there were actually 276.  Device disposal is a problem, as anyone finding one of these unprotected devices would easily have access to anything that the previous soldier had access to.

Like many things that the Army does this is a great idea in theory, but until they are able to demonstrate that they are being secure with the limited number of mobile devices they already employ should they really entrust one to every soldier?