Mobile security for federal authorities

The Procurement Agency of the Federal Ministry of the Interior orders several thousand highly secure Smartphones for 350 federal organizations.

The federal authorities are gradually introducing end-devices for secure mobile communication – SiMKo 2. T-Systems will initially supply 13 government agencies with Smartphones, including encryption cards, and integrate the required solution components into the customers’ ICT infrastructure.

“The first users opting for SiMKo are primarily ministries. But in principle the Smartphone is a good choice for every business that wants to protect its mobile communication from white-collar crime," says Stephan Maihoff, responsible for development of the security solution at T-Systems.

Defended from attacks

The Federal Office for Information Security (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik, BSI) has accorded the Smartphone the “specific recommendation for use for security classification VS-NfD” (classified information for official use only). This complies with the special requirements of security-critical agencies of the Federal Government and industrial companies.

In principle, SiMKo operates in encrypted format and with a “digital identity,” i.e. certificates issued by a trust center. Each connection is secured through a VPN tunnel. This turns the HTC Smartphones into highly secure extensions of the office desk for mobile use.