Wireless struggles with security
Agency officials in charge of setting policies for wireless use and related technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID) still have a difficult job. Technologies are evolving, as are the security standards that they use, and employees are not always judicious about using their own wireless devices on an agency network.
What employees see as simple conveniences -- such as using a handheld device to send and receive e-mail -- can cause nightmares for security officials, according to panelists speaking today at the E-Gov Institute's Wireless/RFID conference in Washington, D.C.
"Even a simple thing like putting a password on a cell phone is hard to sell" to employees, said Jaren Doherty, director of information security and awareness at the National Institutes of Health. "But it's important if the phone is also enabled to get your e-mail or log on to the Internet."
