VA CIO wary of ‘bring your own device’

Veteran Affairs' CIO Roger Baker pointed to concerns over cybersecurity as the reason why he's wary about agencies adopting bring-your-own-device initiatives.

You’ve heard the expression, bring your own device. It’s an emerging policy for letting federal employees choose how they want to work, such as using a tablet versus a notebook computer. But one federal CIO is cautioning, not so fast.

The Veteran Affairs’ Roger Baker said much as he likes the idea of BYOD, he’s wary of it because of cybersecurity concerns. He told an audience at the Management of Change Conference earlier this week he didn’t trust it. VA is actually testing ways of letting employees choose their own devices.

But Baker preferred setups in which agency data stayed on VA servers and is not stored on employee gadgets once they disconnect. VA makes employees sign waivers giving the department control over the devices when they are connected.

This story is part of Federal News Radio’s daily Cybersecurity Update. For more cybersecurity news, click here.

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