Secretary of Defense James Mattis is reportedly mulling over the idea of forbidding personnel from bringing personal cellphones into the Pentagon premises.
Defense officials are investigating whether such a move would be a good course of action, according to CNN. A similar ban for the White House caused staffers to become concerned about their respective ability to communicate with family and loved ones.
“We takes (sic) threats to security seriously and are always looking into any potential additional measures to further enhance the security of our of Department of Defense personnel,” Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Audricia Harris told CNN.
Reports at the end of 2017 stated that the White House considered the same prospect for its staff, as worries about mobile devices being infiltrated grew. That new protocol reportedly took place this month.
Certain officials within the Trump administration suspected months prior that Chief of Staff John Kelly’s cellphone was virtually infiltrated at some point in the past year.
Technical support staff reportedly detected the breach after Kelly notified them of glitches constantly occurring on his phone during the summer. It wasn’t clear if hackers were able to access certain data on Kelly’s phone, and he eventually stopped using it altogether.
The most recent reports of a prospective ban come after reports surfaced days ago claiming that a fitness app may be leaking secretive military base locations and other regular activities of U.S. military personnel.
Wearables, including apps synced with the advanced fashion and medical technology, add another sphere of concern for cybersecurity considerations. The U.K. government announced a ban on Apple Watches for official meetings more than a year ago out of fears of Russian espionage.
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