The Inspector General drew attention to the negligent attitude of ICE to safety.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has faced criticism for its irresponsible approach to monitoring domestic systems. Security flaws could lead to a leak of information of national importance. The audit that identified the problem was conducted by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from April to August 2023.
The main threat concerns applications installed on official smartphones. Some of them can be used by foreign agents to illegally monitor the internal operations of the service.
Inspector Joseph Kuffari notes that such programs are found on thousands of employees 'and contractors' devices, including outdated instant messengers that are no longer updated and are particularly vulnerable to attacks.
ICE, considering such applications "personal", did not supervise them, despite all the risks and rules. Experts are also concerned about some permitted platforms.
Although there are no specific names in the report, it can be assumed that one of the violators was TikTok. This popular service for creating and viewing short videos is banned on the devices of US government employees. The reason is suspicion of espionage by China. TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, is based in Beijing and may be working with Chinese authorities.
"Apps can secretly collect information about users and their location using the phone's built — in sensors — a camera, microphone, and GPS," the inspector warns in its report. They are also capable of collecting and transmitting personal data stored in the device's memory to intruders without control. We are talking about photos, videos, documents and other confidential information."
ICE has already taken steps to address the shortcomings by blocking banned and vulnerable services. The management also plans to update the internal security policy.
Despite the measures taken, DHS does not agree with the audit findings, claiming that the level of protection of ICE systems is higher than indicated in the document. At the same time, the report emphasizes that not all risks associated with installed applications have been completely eliminated.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has faced criticism for its irresponsible approach to monitoring domestic systems. Security flaws could lead to a leak of information of national importance. The audit that identified the problem was conducted by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from April to August 2023.
The main threat concerns applications installed on official smartphones. Some of them can be used by foreign agents to illegally monitor the internal operations of the service.
Inspector Joseph Kuffari notes that such programs are found on thousands of employees 'and contractors' devices, including outdated instant messengers that are no longer updated and are particularly vulnerable to attacks.
ICE, considering such applications "personal", did not supervise them, despite all the risks and rules. Experts are also concerned about some permitted platforms.
Although there are no specific names in the report, it can be assumed that one of the violators was TikTok. This popular service for creating and viewing short videos is banned on the devices of US government employees. The reason is suspicion of espionage by China. TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, is based in Beijing and may be working with Chinese authorities.
"Apps can secretly collect information about users and their location using the phone's built — in sensors — a camera, microphone, and GPS," the inspector warns in its report. They are also capable of collecting and transmitting personal data stored in the device's memory to intruders without control. We are talking about photos, videos, documents and other confidential information."
ICE has already taken steps to address the shortcomings by blocking banned and vulnerable services. The management also plans to update the internal security policy.
Despite the measures taken, DHS does not agree with the audit findings, claiming that the level of protection of ICE systems is higher than indicated in the document. At the same time, the report emphasizes that not all risks associated with installed applications have been completely eliminated.
