There is no doubt that leveraging the technologies that a soldier is comfortable using makes sense. We are all accustomed to having our cell phones and tablets with us at all times, providing us the key information we need to accomplish our tasks. Why shouldn’t our military service personnel have the same capabilities? They should! But…does it make sense to have them use consumer rated devices for their mission. No!
The military’s mission is quite unique. The men and women that rely on technology to accomplish their military missions are exposed to very different environments that the rest of us going about our normal day. These impact both the soldiers and their equipment. Some are obvious, such as environmental concerns- jolting shock and vibration, extreme temperatures (both frigid and desert), dust and sand, wet and humid, and salt exposure from seawater, all of which can quickly damage an unsealed device. Touchscreens often fail when used with gloved hands. While a consumer grade Android tablet or phone may work in 80% of soldier environments, that isn’t good enough. Soldiers need to know that they can rely on their portable devices anytime, anywhere.
Perhaps more importantly, recent articles have described security vulnerabilities in consumer Android devices and apps installed on them. These vulnerabilities can expose a soldier’s position, and therefore endanger the soldier’s life and the mission.
A common practice, as described in an article written by Susan Crabtree for The Washington Free Beacon titled, “Cybersecurity Experts: Stop Sending Troops Into Combat With Personal Tablets, Smartphones,” is for soldiers to upload military apps to their smartphones and tablets for use in the field. Some mapping applications installed on these devices have vulnerabilities that allow them to be hacked.
View Original Source:- https://www.inhand.com/military-use-of-cots-android-devices-bad-idea/
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