The FISMA Focus IPD

You have all probably read that both BlackBerry (BBRY) and Samsung (SSNLF.PK) have been cleared for use on Defense Department networks. Apple (AAPL) has not yet been cleared, but is expected to be soon. One small surprise is that BlackBerry tablets were also cleared, but Samsung Android tablets were not.

The U.S. military is in the process of overhauling its security standards to be able to track thousands of Android, Apple and Windows devices that were recently found unaccounted for on Military networks, according to a recent report by the DOD IG. In the Department of Defense alone, there are over 470,000 BlackBerry devices, vs. 41,000 Apple and 8,700 Android devices. Up for grabs is a contract that will be rewarded whereby the U.S. military establishment will manage, monitor and enforce security for about 8 million devices.

However, with BYOD policies everywhere these days, the need for software that can manage all these different devices is a challenge. While the military has relied on BlackBerry, which has consistently received federal certification for protecting sensitive data, recently the military is also testing Android and Apple alternatives.

So the question is, do Samsung and Apple have a chance to compete against BlackBerry?

Samsung for its part has addressed many of the security holes in the Android operating system with Knox, as part of its enterprise initiative. According to Tim Wagner, Samsung’s vice president and general manager of enterprise, the U.S. National Security Agency worked with Samsung to create “Secure-Enhanced Android,” a version of Google’s (GOOG) operating system with multiple layers of software and hardware protection.

My question is, why is the NSA involved in a private sector initiative, helping and/or consulting a private firm to tweak the Android kernel, in order to help Samsung comply with DOD specifications to win a government contract? Is this not a case of favoritism?

My next question is, who will be updating this tweaked version of Android from now on? Is this exclusively Samsung’s responsibility or will Google also be involved? Will the NSA help Samsung in the future? Can the military rely on some bootlegged version of Android permanently?

In addition, Knox only works with Galaxy S4 phones. Knox can be used as an MDM agent for many different devices, however, it can’t really implement 100% of the DOD Inspector General’s requirements across all platforms. And those requirements (among others) are to remotely wipe data stored on CMDs that were transferred, lost, stolen or even damaged. Also, it has to be able to install and uninstall apps remotely and set individual permissions and so on.

Samsung can do that on its phones, and even Apple has its own MDM software that can do what Knox can do, but there is no one software solution that can implement 100% of the DOD requirements across different platforms and on different devices. That includes BlackBerry’s Enterprise 10 and Fusion.