Security professionals in the public sector face unique challenges around issues such as holistic Mobile Device Management (MDM) and risk management on the road to digital transformation. Federal, state and local government agencies experience more cybersecurity incidents than any other industry, according to Accenture. As mobile-based threats plague public agencies daily, security officers must actively explore solutions for seamless integration and minimal disruption.

At the Gartner Symposium for Security and Risk Management, June 4-7 in National Harbor, Maryland, public sector attendees will have an opportunity to learn more about Samsung Knox, the leading mobile security platform for public safety.

Public Sector CIOs Struggle to Prioritize Digital Investments in 2018

The 2018 Gartner CIO Agenda Survey revealed decision-makers at public agencies are balancing innovation, threats and regulatory requirements. “Government CIOs have conflicting priorities — to bring transformative change to their organizations, while pursuing compliance-oriented priorities,” said Gartner Research Vice President Rick Howard.

According to the same report, the top areas of anticipated new tech spending included, but were not limited to, cloud solutions (19 percent), cyber security (17 percent), and infrastructure (14 percent). Simultaneously, agencies must transform tech workflows to recruit, retain and engage a changing talent force.

In the whitepaper Developing an Effective Strategy for Digitizing the Government Workplace, three key recommendations were provided to drive digital transformation in the public sector workforce:

1. Focus on technology from the beginning of recruitment: Create a mobile-driven, technology-powered employee experience.
2. Give employees a focused digital workflow: Empower your talent with personalized, mobile-optimized tools and apps.
3. Find the right technology partner: Simplify and secure the mobile transformation process with trusted partnerships for comprehensive MDM.

Public Sector Mobile Security Starts in the Basement

“If you compare mobile infrastructure to a house, there’s a need for solutions which offer smartphone security at a deeper level, beyond just the front doors and windows,” says Keith Fuentes, vice president of sales for Samsung Knox. Public agencies, according to Fuentes, need to consider security at a “basement-level,” or in mobility terms, at the hardware and chip level.

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Samsung Knox is anchored in the device hardware and integrated through software to detect compromise and tampering, regardless of methods of interference. According to Fuentes, this basement-level security has enabled public agencies to detect compromised devices out-of-the-box at the time of installation. With a foundation-level approach to security, public agencies can avoid the possibility of insecure mobile endpoints in increasingly bring-your-own-device (BYOD) or choose-your-own-device (CYOD) environments.

Designed for Mobile Security at Scale

For many public agencies, Fuentes states the Knox difference is apparent in the remarkable efficiency gains in MDM at scale, including the ability to create profiles and permission sets for hundreds of devices at once. IT administrators can deploy, configure and manage devices rapidly using efficient administration tools. While administrators need to physically install Knox on the device, updates can be pushed out remotely. A few key capabilities include:

1. Device Deployment: Knox Configure allows administrators to build a device profile at scale, including permissions and acceptable use policies, which can be replicated across hundreds of devices.
2. Onboarding: With Knox Mobile Enrollment, IT can securely add new mobile devices to the agency network without risk.
3. Enable: Knox Manage enables administrators to create profiles with policies and containerization features, which can be pushed to hundreds of devices.
4. Update: The Enterprise Firmware Over the Air (E-FOTA) solution simplifies management by ensuring all devices remain up-to-date for reduced risk.

Simplifying Complex Compliance Challenges with Smarter MDM

As public agencies struggle with increasing compliance fatigue, Samsung Knox offers the unique advantage of security by design and default. A key difference between Samsung Knox and other MDM platforms is its initial design with a military-grade defense to protect sensitive data, employees and citizens in the most challenging compliance and security regulations.

Samsung Knox also conforms with Mobile Operating System Security Requirements Guides (SRGs) as established by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). Knox has additional certification with the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) as published by NIST, and the National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP).

Gartner Symposium attendees are invited to learn more about how Samsung Knox is raising the bar for mobile security and innovation in the public sector. Monday, June 4 at 6:30 p.m., join Nick Rea, vice president of mobile innovation at Samsung Electronics America, for a presentation on Autonomy and Security in the Mobile-First Workplace.