Comprehensive Approach to Protection of Mobile Devices in Government

Indra’s COMSec ‘antispyware’ for mobile phones has won every tender in which it has bid over the last three years and has become the chosen protection system against wire tapping for the Spanish government, according to a company announcement on 18 January.

It has recently become one of the only two solutions approved in Spain by the National Cryptological Centre, an entity reporting to the Spanish National Intelligence Centre, for use by the various government agencies and companies that follow the National Security Scheme. It is also on the global short list of solutions approved for the exchange of restricted information between NATO member countries.

It has also been included in the ICT Catalogue of Security Products, the document used by government as a reference to determine which systems offer the required security level needed. This document is also used as a guide by leading companies in several sectors. Today, the solution is installed in the terminals of more than 12,000 professionals, both in public administration and in leading private companies.

Protecting mobile devices is an essential requirement, not only for top executives, since attacks are often directed against mid-level operatives and support staff. They are more vulnerable and less protected, and yet they have direct access to key information and meetings. The economic losses caused by an incident of this type are huge, and damage the prestige and trust of customers and suppliers of the affected company or organization. From a legal perspective, it can entail substantial fines.

On the black market, there are startups that offer services from third countries to hack any phone. Through a seemingly harmless email, they install the necessary malware to tap the cell phone. Controlling the camera and the cell phone gives direct access to work meetings and negotiations with clients. Accessing the memory uncovers all the calls made, their duration, the meetings planned in the calendar, received files, saved images and even makes it possible to track the phone user’s position.

Indra is the leading company in the field of communications security in Spain: its advanced solutions comprehensively protect over 14,000 cell phones worldwide.

Indra’s COMSec solution stands out for being very simple and convenient to use. It is compatible with any operating system and smartphone or tablet model. It encrypts voice communications, messages and files sent from end to end. It allows conference and video calls to be placed, and communication rooms to be set up to keep meetings safe. It can make use of mobile networks, Wi-Fi or satellite communications, and it supports other mobile applications, such as calendar, camera or email.

It also improves upon conventional cellphone efficiency when placing calls to countries or areas with little coverage and can reduce the cost of international calls, since they are made by exchanging data packets.

Indra’s security for the mobile terminal includes a cyberintelligence and security service. Its configuration, connections, degree of vulnerability, permits granted to installed applications and other phone variables are constantly monitored – all for the purpose of detecting immediately whether malware is installed or security is compromised.

Connection patterns and the apps that the user uses most frequently are also monitored. This establishes authentic ‘behavioural biometrics,’ which can be used to detect if the terminal has been stolen or if there are third parties accessing it.