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DHS says it needs more authority to secure mobile networks

The Department of Homeland Security needs more authority over mobile telephone networks to properly do its job of securing federal IT systems against hackers.
(FEMA / Bill Koplitz)

The Department of Homeland Security needs more authority over mobile telephone networks to properly do its job of securing federal IT systems against hackers, according to a new report from its Science and Technology Directorate.

The authors also recommend overhauling the standard reporting and information sharing formats for vulnerabilities and threats — like the National Vulnerability Database and the Common Vulnerability Enumeration — so they can include threats to mobile IT as well.

The report suggests that future IT security is endangered because the U.S. government, which for many years didn’t own any mobile networks, lacked a voice in global discussions about standards for cellular communications dominated by legacy state-owned national telecom companies from adversarial nations.

Read more about the new report in Shaun Waterman’s story on CyberScoop.

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