Pentagon’s use of commercial telecoms draw scrutiny after Chinese breaches

The Pentagon’s inspector general is launching a three-pronged investigation into the department’s “failure to secure its unclassified telephone communications from foreign espionage,” a top IG official has informed lawmakers.

The inquest, which follows Chinese penetrations of U.S. telecommunications companies, will look at three ways the Pentagon uses unclassified commercial devices and services, Jaryd Bern, assistant inspector general for legislative affairs and communications, wrote in a March 20 letter to Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.

Bern wrote that the IG would first look at the Pentagon’s Spiral 4 contract vehicle for buying mobile communications devices and services—specifically, its security requirements, how well they are enforced, and vulnerabilities in the SS7 telephony protocol. After that report is completed later this year, the office will turn to the encryption of unclassified data and voice communications in collaboration tools. Finally, the office will look into the ...