The Defense Department said last week it approved BlackBerry [BBRY] 10 smartphones, BlackBerry PlayBook tablets with BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 mobile device management and Samsung’s Android operating system (OS) that uses the company’s Knox enterprise mobile solution version for use on DoD networks.
DoD spokesman Lt. Col. Damien Pickart said last week this is a “significant step” towards establishing a multi-vendor environment that supports a variety of state-of-the-art devices and operating systems. Google [GOOG] develops the Android OS.
Approval for use on DoD networks, formally known as a Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG), is also being considered for several other mobile devices and operating systems, Pickart said. A STIG approval establishes a configuration that allows a secure connection to DoD networks, which facilitates the process by eliminating the need for security reviews at the individual DoD organization level. Pickart added that this decision to allow these products to be used on DoD networks does not result in product orders.
Pickart said DoD looks forward to additional vendors participating in this process.