Reference no: EM132305899

Assignment

Prepare a newsletter article in which you identify and discuss the growing risks associated with adoption of mobile applications to deliver digital government services. Your newsletter article should be 5 to 7 paragraphs long and may contain bullet points if appropriate.

Your audience is a group of federal agency managers and contractors who receive a monthly newsletter on "Best Practices for Digital Government." Your article will appear in a special issue dedicated to addressing the adoption and deployment of mobile applications for digital government services. Go to Federal Government Mobile Apps Directory for examples of mobile apps (wait for the page to finish loading the directory).

Provide in-text citations and references for 3 or more authoritative sources. Put the reference list at the end of your posting.

Project Government Mobile Apps Security Assessment & Strategy

For this research report you will research and then present your findings about cybersecurity issues specific to mobile applications. You will also provide a set of recommendations for best practices (your "strategy") for security architectures and designs formobile apps.

Mobile applications are important because they allow citizens and other stakeholders to access information and services through the federal government's digital government initiatives. For more information about requirements to provide mobile friendly websites and mobile apps see this blog posting from CIO and the text of the Connected Government Act Public Law 115-114

Note: this assignment requires inclusion of diagrams or graphics which help to explain the information provided in your analysis and strategy.

You are not required to create these on your own. Instead, you should look for useful graphics / diagrams in the readings and use those to support your work. You must cite the source for each piece of artwork used in your project. Put a figure caption under the diagram or chart and then place the in-text citation at the end of the caption. See the example at the end of this file.

Research:

1. Review the Weekly readings.

2. Review recent changes in US Laws regarding the requirement for mobile friendly government websites.

3. Research the "best" of federal mobile apps to see examples of the type of apps that other agencies have created in the past.

a. 19 of the Coolest Government Mobile Apps

b. 10 Most Entertaining Government Mobile Apps

c. 3 Innovative Ways Agencies are Leveraging Mobile Apps

4. Research the federal government's perspective on mobile app security architectures and design recommendations. Here are three sources to help you get started:

a. App Developers: Start with Security

b. Mobile Security Reference Architecture

c. How to build a secure mobile app: 10 tips

5. Research industry recommendations for mobile app security. Begin with the following sources:

a. OWASP Mobile Security Project

b. Top 10 Mobile Risks(click on tab)

c. Mobile app security: Always keep the back door locked

6. Find five or more best practice recommendations for ensuring the security of mobile apps. These recommendations must include security for the platform (mobile device), the data on the device, and the transmission path between the device and the mobile application server.

Your focus should be upon recommendations which can be implemented as part of a strategy for reducing risk.

Write:

Write a five to sevenpage report in which you summarize your research and present your "best practices" based strategy for reducing risk and ensuring security forgovernment provided mobile apps and their users. You should focus upon clarity and conciseness more than length when determining what content to include in your paper. At a minimum, your report must include the following:

1. An introduction or overview of mobile apps for digital government.Your overview should include discussion of the Connected Government Act, examples of mobile apps which are recognized as being innovative, and "best of category" applications for delivering government information and services to mobile devices. This introduction should be suitable for an executive audience.

2. A separate section in which you discuss the federal government's requirements and recommendations for mobile app security architectures and the associated design recommendations. This section should be written for non-technical managers; you will need to translate from tech-speak to manager-speak. Diagrams and pictures may be useful but, remember to include the appropriate in-text citations for the source (append to the figure caption).

3. A separate section in which you discuss industry's recommendations for security architectures and risk reduction for mobile app security.

4. A section in which you present 5 or morebest practice recommendations for building security into mobile applications used to deliver government information and services. These recommendations should be presented as a strategy for reducing risk.

5. A separate section in which you summarize your research and recommendations.