Government Agency Locks Down Smartphones

MCLEAN, Va. --Trust Digital, the leading mobile security management provider, today announced the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB) has selected its Smartphone Security Management Software to comply with the Office of Management & Budget’s (OMB) security regulations which mandate protection of sensitive data stored on FHFB mobile devices. FHFB regulates the twelve Federal Home Loan Banks who supply local lenders with funds used to finance loans for home mortgages. Because of the sensitive nature of the information on FHFB smartphones and laptops, it was critical to have a secure mobile strategy following the OMB guidance.

As part of its migration from Blackberry to Windows Mobile, FHFB had initially deployed a single-vendor solution to secure both laptops and smartphones. On paper, this unified approach seemed reasonable; however, FHFB quickly found the single-source solution better suited for laptops than smartphones. During the first four months of use, smartphone users with heavy email usage experienced significant reduction in battery life, interruption in email delivery and consistent system lock issues.

To resolve these issues, FHFB opted for Trust Digital’s Smartphone Security Management Software, with immediate improved results. Deployment took days versus weeks, and all of the data leaving FHFB’s network was fully encrypted. Importantly, the Trust Digital security software went seemingly undetected by FHFB’s smartphone users; other then having to enter a pin upon smartphone power-on, users did not see any degradation in device behavior or performance after the Trust Digital software was loaded.

“Security issues keep IT departments awake at night and I don’t want to find out one of my devices walked out the door leaking critical information,” said Vernon Monday, head of network operations for the FHFB. “With Trust Digital we can ensure compliance with the OMB mandates and keep our smartphone users happy. Now I know that if a mobile device goes missing, it will be fully encrypted and our information will stay safe.”

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