Know Why US Department Of Defense Prefers Android!

Android is often questioned about its security but people were forced to see it in a different light when The Pentagon allowed a version of Google's open source platform to access Defense Department computer networks. The openness of the platform, which is otherwise considered a drawback by many as it leads to an unsecured environment, came out to be its major advantage in this case. Android is not only the favoured platform for the commoners but it surely is the most liked platform for the US Department Of Defense.
EFYTimes.cm spoke to Joe Wlad, senior director, vertical marketing, Windriver about the security of Android and he revealed the reason why US Department Of Defense chose to adopt Android over platforms like iOS. He talked about 'secure Android'.

Wlad said, “Yes, I do not deny that there are insecurities with Android with regards to protecting information. But, there are a number of things that can be done to enhance the security of an Android platform and some of it is managed by the applications today. There is encryption technology available for some applications to keep the information secure. We are looking to figure out ways as to how can we enhance the security of Android so that Android platform can be used in areas such as aerospace and defense where protecting information and keeping information secure is vital.”
Android enables smart device users to benefit from a multiplicity of features like app abundance, wide-ranging options for connectivity, clip-on hardware support and external storage. Beyond the consumer space, the advantages of Android are being explored in fields like aerospace & defense (A&D) to facilitate ease of communication, navigation and equipment stability. Considering the overwhelming gravity and sensitivity of information exchanged, security of devices is a major area of concern. Given that, a comprehensive solution that can both withstand predictable threats and offer a possibility of an upgrade to meet future demands is a primary requirement. Additionally, security features will have to be customised by requirement, allow for flexibility in terms for upgrades and modifications, and lastly, be cost effective.
Wind River, having been a significant player in devising Android security solutions for a wide spectrum of devices like enterprise tablets, media phones and smartphones, is now one of the biggest contributors to Secure Android for military and A&D applications. It makes robust, dependable and secure hand-held devices that military forces can confidently take into the battlefield.
Talking about the security of Android in defense, Wlad said, “There are a number of patches being made available to Android. If you look at the Android layer, it has a rather large stack of software. It has the base, then its kernel and then there is the Java framework on top of that. So you can run Java applications. And then, pretty much the application framework for which Android developers can prepare applications and make the resources available to execute those applications. So there are a number of ways to enhance the security. We talked about encryption. But sometimes, encryption technologies may not be sufficient to meet the aerospace and defense requirement. So there is a Federal Information Processing Standards 140-2that has encryption algorithms that can certify your encryption algorithms to meet that standard. So that is another way you can add encryption capabilities to Android. Something else that can be done is secure booting mechanism. If it is possible to run Android devices in two personalities. For example, you could have the personality of one configuration in which you run your e-mail, your applications, your texting etc. But there can be another personality, and by running secure applications, one can ensure that the information between these two personalities are not shared. That's one option that Department of Defence in US is working at to be able to only boot certain applications and run them in a kind of privileged mode. The reason this is happening is because most of the soldiers in the US miliatary is used to using handsets. Infact they are working to replace software defined radios as they are heavy and expensive. Soldiers don't want to use these things. They want to communicate with the technologies they are used to and they grew up with. So the DOD has realised that unless they do something to enhance the capabilities of the platforms, they probably cannot change the behaviour of the soldiers. So they are trying to accommodate these by allowing them to use their devices.
But what is the reason for resorting to Android, which is popular for its insecurities and is not a safe platform like iOS. Wlad answered this one by saying, “One reason is that iPhone does not have an open platform. So it is not the one that DOD could write applications for and get access to the operating system. So they can't be sure about the protection. This is not the case with Android. So Android being an open platform is definitely something that is easy to work with from an enhancement point of view. But yes, this will confine the military users to use Android platform. But US DOD is more keen on Android devices. I am talking of not just smartphones but tablets too.”
So, for all those who think iOS is more secure as compared to Android, we guess you should re-read this one!