Pentagon employees are ready to stake government secure resources if it delivers a steady dose of entertainment for them. As per the rules, Pentagon employees are forbidden from using consumer apps on their government-issued devices. The dedicated bunch of workers must believe that rules are meant to be broken as they proceed anyway despite the risks.
Based on a Department of Defense investigation, the workers were caught swiping through unauthorized apps to secure dating app matches, watching TikTok videos and buying crypto on government devices, The list of what DoD employees are downloading despite the restrictions includes “dating apps, Chinese drone apps, third-party virtual private networks, cryptocurrency apps, games and apps related to multi-level marketing schemes.”
Employees have unrestricted access to any apps they desire on government devices through the regular app stores available to consumers. Government devices don’t have barriers in place that enable employees to sidestep the security protocols to get to the app stores.
Based on the investigator’s report, “some of the apps found on employees’ work phones have known cybersecurity risks, operational security risks, [or] potentially inappropriate content.”
They could be confirming weekend dating plans at the expense of leaking sensitive information.
The dating interactions are just one part of the larger problem since employees are also using unapproved messaging apps to discuss sensitive information that’s meant to be safeguarded. It’s only meant to be shared in official channels not freely across other platforms.
The inspector general explains that employees have downloaded apps that “require access to a user’s contact list, location data, and photo library.” The collection of data could expose confidential military information.
Military security is not a priority for these workers as long as they get their dopamine hit with the leisure scrolling.
Source: https://gizmodo.com/tiktok-pentagon-dating-apps-banned-government-phones-1850098991?utm_source=YPL