PDA Security, the Next Big Hurdle for IT?

Jack writes "ITO published an article on a new secure PDA requested by the NSA. 'General Dynamics inked an $18 million contract with the secretive National Security Agency to design and develop a secure mobile personal assistant for defense workers. The PDA will integrate all types of communications including voice, data and web.'" In related news palmtops writes "Insecure Magazine has a great and in-depth article written by Seth Fogie, the VP of Airscanner.com, about Pocket PC security. His summary of PDA attacks states: 'These devices are easy to smuggle into a business and can be used to propagate an attack against network devices. Don't make the mistake of assuming is a PDA is a simple data keeper. As the cliche' goes... it is how you use it that matters.'"

Comments

just another ploy

[a_greer2005]

to make companys bend over and grab the ankles for PocketPC AVs, Wouldnt surprise me a bit if the virus development for the various PDA platforms was unofficially sponsored by the big AV companies

Solving yesterday's problem...

[MosesJones]

The PDA will integrate all types of communications including voice, data and web

Riiight, so its sort of a SMARTPHONE then? Sure PDAs could be a threat, but its probably worth focusing more on something that everyone already has and which is has all this functionality already, as well as a digital camera etc.... the ubiquitous mobile phone.

Developing, and then requiring, a "secure" PDA for all your people and then being "suprised" when information leaks via their mobile phone with the 1GB Flashcard, 2 Mega-pixel camera and Broadband 3G connection doesn't sound like a plan for tomorrow.

Too many standards

[spectrokid]

I think the biggest problem is every manufacturor makes his own synchronisation software running some weird propietary protocol. It feels like the good old days where you spent half a day setting up your dotmatrix in WP 2.1, and then restarted from zero in Lotus 123. Somebody should set some standards here. A PDA/Phone should be hardware abstracted at the OS level, just like a printer. And on corporate networks, the PC should just be a USB/Bluetooth -to-ethernet router, with the PDA authenticating directly to Exchange/Notes/whatever.