Air Force to swap 5,000 BlackBerrys for iOS devices
Air Force to swap 5,000 BlackBerrys for iOS devices
The Air Force has begun a shift away from BlackBerry mobile devices, announcing that it will replace 5,000 BlackBerrys with Apple iOS devices in an initial effort to begin rolling out modernized commercial mobile technologies.
The primary motivation for the program is to provide increased productivity and capabilities and to maintain an appropriate security approach, the Air Force said. Recognizing the quick development of commercial technology, the service has begun to tap into the market while simultaneously preserving military-grade security.
"Mobile devices offer unprecedented opportunities to advance operational effectiveness," Brig. Gen. Kevin Wooton, the Air Force Space Command’s director of communications, said in an announcement. "The ultimate beneficiary of the vast mobile device capability is the warfighter."
Apple’s iOS 6 Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) was approved by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) in May 2013. The STIG meant that government-issued iOS 6 devices were allowed to connect to DOD networks in mobility pilot tests and could be used with the future mobile device management (MDM) framework. The STIG configuration is supplemented by the actively defended MDM system, allowing for the secure use of commercial mobile devices on official networks.
http://defensesystems.com/articles/2014/02/20/air-force-apple-ios-blackberry.aspx
= new reply since forum marked as read
