A Municipal Government Agency enhances Wireless Security

Background: The customer is a municipal government entity located in the western United States.  The specific unit served by Bluefire Security Technologies, Inc. was the IT department which provided support to the municipality’s public works and infrastructure maintenance and repair divisions.  Personnel from these divisions required the use of wireless handheld devices to access key engineering, parts and maintenance databases; to share critical, time-sensitive information with each other and with headquarters; and to photograph and document facilities and equipment in need of repair.

Challenges: The municipal government agency equipped more than 500 field personnel with wireless devices, to enable them to access the agency’s database, communicate maintenance and equipment needs to each other and to headquarters, and to photograph and document repair jobs.  In a post 9-11 world, the agency was concerned about what unauthorized individuals or organizations might do with information about critical infrastructure defects.  While no serious security breaches had been detected prior to its call to Bluefire, the agency wanted  to extend to its mobile devices the same IT security policies it had implemented for desktop and laptop computers at headquarters – and to ensure data residing on employee mobile devices, and being transmitted to those devices, was secure at all times.

The agency cited these specific vulnerabilities:

• Use of the agency’s wireless devices by unauthorized persons.

• Unsecured and unprotected data on mobile devices.

• Attacks on mobile devices designed to disrupt work or gain access to government networks.

Issues: As discussed above, while the client had not experienced any severe, direct security threats, the municipal agency understood that given its responsibility for the integrity and repairs of key infrastructure facilities, a comprehensive approach to wireless mobile security would be required.

Based on the client’s and Bluefire’s security assessment, the client faced three key vulnerabilities:

• Use of the agency’s wireless devices by unauthorized persons.

• Unsecured and unprotected data on mobile devices.

• Attacks on mobile devices designed to disrupt work or gain access to government networks.

Solution provided by Bluefire Security Technologies: After carefully assessing the municipal agency’s specific security needs and concerns, Bluefire Security Technologies recommended and implemented its Bluefire Mobile™ Enterprise Edition.  The product provided the following for the agency’s more than 500 wireless devices in the field:

1. Secure Authentication – Enforces a power-on PIN or password requirements.

2. Data Encryption – Protects data stored in secure folders on the device with AES 128-bit encryption, and complies with Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 policy.

3. Firewall – Filters traffic to each device in compliance with administrator-controlled port and protocol policies via an integrated LANWAN firewall.

Since installation was completed more than a year ago, the Bluefire Mobile™ Enterprise Edition has ensured secure authentication for the municipality’s wireless handheld devices, provided protection for the devices from probes coming across wireless Internet connections, and kept encrypted data safe from unauthorized parties.

“I call on many different kinds of organizations – financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, transportation firms, and others – but nowhere had I seen an organization more at risk – and yet more proactive – than this particular municipal government client.  The IT department was determined not to wait for a homeland security director to tell it what to do, and it was even more determined not to let a security breach force it to quickly do what it knew was required.  So it took the path of leadership and action.”

Scott Swift, Sales Director - Bluefire Security Technologies

Summary: With its installation of the Bluefire Mobile™ Enterprise Edition, the municipal government agency has accomplished its dual goals of bringing its handheld wireless devices into line with security policies previously mandated for its laptops and desktops, and of protecting the integrity and ensuring the security of sensitive data regarding major infrastructure projects throughout the city.  

Bluefire Security Technologies, Inc.
1040 Hull Street, #101,
Baltimore, MD 21230 USA
Tel: 1-410-637-8160

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