Newswise — WASHINGTON—The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) today released its 2018 Mobile Security Research and Development (R&D) Program Guide that introduces the technology projects, goals and objectives and their alignment with DHS and federal mobile security strategies and priorities. 

“Mobile technologies are evolving rapidly to meet increasing consumer demand and in parallel technology developers are evolving and improving their technologies to maintain a competitive edge,” said Dr. Douglas Maughan, Director of S&T’s Cyber Security Division. “The high adoption rate of mobile devices, apps and services by consumers and government departments has made the technologies a new target for attackers, who are taking advantage of this rapid pace of change to pinpoint vulnerabilities and introduce malware into the mobile ecosystem.” 

The Mobile Security R&D Program was established to address the technical, operational and policy challenges that inhibit the adoption of secure mobile technologies. Its goals are to apply R&D to:

  • Enable the mobile workforce to support the homeland security mission
  • Enable mission success through effective, efficient and secure mobile technologies 

“As the adoption of mobile technology by the federal government and the private sector accelerates, the S&T Mobile Security R&D Program is helping to secure these innovative technologies through targeted R&D that addresses security gaps and barriers,” said S&T Mobile Security R&D Program Manager Vincent Sritapan. “This guide will raise awareness about the program within the federal government and the private sector and create opportunities to transition these new technologies to operational use.” 

The informational guide features an in-depth overview of the Mobile Security R&D Program strategy as well as summaries of the program’s two project areas: Mobile Device Security and Mobile Application Security. It also includes synopses of 11 current R&D efforts from both project areas. 

As a service to implementers of mobile technology, the guide also includes a Table of Mobile Security Guidance—a one-stop, comprehensive reference tool mobile administrators can use to research the latest developments in mobile security standards and guidelines and learn more about current and new reference architectures and security solutions for mobile technology implementations.                                                           

The program guide is available for free download from the S&T website.

 S&T’s cybersecurity mission is to enhance the security and resilience of the nation’s critical information infrastructure and the internet by developing and delivering new technologies, tools, solutions and techniques to defend against cyberattacks. S&T’s cybersecurity R&D program conducts and supports technology transitions and leads and coordinates R&D among the cybersecurity community, which includes DHS components, government agencies, the private sector and international partners. For more information about S&T’s cybersecurity initiatives, visit https://www.dhs.gov/cyber-research.

 

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