And you thought your password protected (or possibly even biometrics secured) handheld was the proverbial cat’s meow when it comes to security. Well, the NSA has been working with two handheld manufacturers to bring two super-secure handhelds into the field. The “spy-gear” is reportedly in the final certification stages, and are expected to be deployed throughout the Defense Department soon. General Dynamics C4 Systems and L-3 Communication are the two vendors working with the NSA on these espionage-thwarting mobile phones. A delivery of 60 Sectera Edge engineering models were delivered, by General Dynamics C4 Systems, to the NSA for certification testing. L-3 Communications stated that they are nearing the end of their development and certification process for their Guardian handheld – with an expected Q4 delivery.
Why all the drama for a handheld device? This is the Defense Department, people! With access to all sorts of high-level, top-secret, “eyes only” data, the NSA wants to make sure that no amount of digital espionage will have any precious government secrets falling into the hands of “enemies of the state.” The Guardian and Sectera Edge will serve up emails with the NSA’s High Assurance Internet Protocol Encryptor Interoperability Specification protocol – and will provide secure voice access through the Secure Communications Interoperable Protocol.
Look out James Bond! US spies are going to get their own spy-toys soon!
[Via: GCN]