The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) have taken leading roles in exploring requirements for Mobile Device Management (MDM) systems for government agencies.

Mobile devices, particularly smartphones, are exceptionally vulnerable to security breaches. They are easily lost, are filled with unknown applications, communicate over untrusted networks, and are often purchased by users without regard to IT standards and security features.

MDM products and platforms can help mitigate these vulnerabilities. But managing mobile devices is a complex subject with many sub-topics, including policy management, secure communications, secure storage, device authentication, remediation and auditing.

In this white paper we will look at NIST and DISA efforts to articulate requirements for Mobile Device Management.