BlackBerry 10 OS Security Technical Implementation Guide

The device lock function prevents further access to the system by initiating a session lock after a period of inactivity or upon receiving a request from a user. The device lock is retained until the user reestablishes access using established identification and authentication procedures. A device lock is a temporary action taken when a user stops work, but does not want to log out because of the temporary nature of the hiatus. During the device lock, a publicly viewable pattern is visible on the associated display, hiding what was previously visible on the screen. Once invoked, the device lock shall remain in place until the user reauthenticates. No other system activity aside from reauthentication can unlock the system. The operating system must enforce a device lock function. This prevents others from gaining access to the device when not in the user's possession, and from accessing sensitive DoD information. The identification and authentication procedure configuration must be set by a Mobile Device Management (MDM) service and be sufficiently complex to protect sensitive data.

The device lock function prevents further access to the system by initiating a session lock after a period of inactivity or upon receiving a request from a user. The device lock is retained until the user reestablishes access using established identification and authentication procedures. A device lock is a temporary action taken when a user stops work, but does not want to log out because of the temporary nature of the hiatus. During the device lock, a publicly viewable pattern is visible on the associated display, hiding what was previously visible on the screen. Once invoked, the device lock shall remain in place until the user reauthenticates. No other system activity aside from reauthentication can unlock the system. The operating system must enforce a device lock function. This prevents others from gaining access to the device when not in the user's possession, and from accessing sensitive DoD information. The identification and authentication procedure configuration must be set by a Mobile Device Management (MDM) service and be sufficiently complex to protect sensitive data.

The device lock function prevents further access to the system by initiating a session lock after a period of inactivity or upon receiving a request from a user. The device lock is retained until the user reestablishes access using established identification and authentication procedures. A device lock is a temporary action taken when a user stops work, but does not want to shut down because of the temporary nature of the hiatus. During the device lock, a publicly viewable pattern is visible on the associated display, hiding what was previously visible on the screen. Once invoked, the device lock shall remain in place until the user reauthenticates. No other system activity aside from reauthentication can unlock the system. The operating system must lock the device after the organization defined time period. This prevents others from gaining access to the device when not in the user's possession, and from accessing sensitive DoD information. A device lock mitigates the risk that an adversary can access data on an unattended mobile device, but only after the maximum of a 15-minute period of inactivity.

The device lock function prevents further access to the system by initiating a session lock after a period of inactivity or upon receiving a request from a user. The device lock is retained until the user reestablishes access using established identification and authentication procedures. A device lock is a temporary action taken when a user stops work, but does not want to shut down because of the temporary nature of the hiatus. During the device lock, a publicly viewable pattern is visible on the associated display, hiding what was previously visible on the screen. Once invoked, the device lock shall remain in place until the user reauthenticates. No other system activity aside from reauthentication can unlock the system. The operating system must lock the device after the organization defined time period. This prevents others from gaining access to the device when not in the user's possession, and from accessing sensitive DoD information. A device lock mitigates the risk that an adversary can access data on an unattended mobile device, but only after the maximum of a 15-minute period of inactivity.

Password complexity or strength refers to how difficult it is to determine a password using a dictionary or brute force attack. Setting minimum numbers of certain types of characters increases password complexity, and therefore makes it more difficult for an adversary to discover the password. In the DoD, the expectation is that the setting will range from a minimum of 1 to 2 upper case alphabetic characters in the device unlock password. The parameter should be selected based on a risk assessment that weighs factors, such as the environments the device will be located and operational requirements for users to access data in a timely manner.

Password complexity or strength refers to how difficult it is to determine a password using a dictionary or brute force attack. Setting minimum numbers of certain types of characters increases password complexity, and therefore makes it more difficult for an adversary to discover the password. In the DoD, the expectation is that the setting will range from a minimum of 1 to 2 lower case characters in the device unlock password. The parameter should be selected based on a risk assessment that weighs factors, such as the environments the device will be located and operational requirements for users to access data in a timely manner.

Password complexity or strength refers to how difficult it is to determine a password using a dictionary or brute force attack. Setting minimum numbers of certain types of characters increases password complexity, and therefore makes it more difficult for an adversary to discover the password. In the DoD, the expectation is that the setting will range from a minimum of 1 to 2 numeric characters in the device unlock password. The parameter should be selected based on a risk assessment that weighs factors, such as the environments the device will be located and operational requirements for users to access data in a timely manner.

Password complexity, or strength, is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting guessing and brute force attacks. The ability to crack a password is a function of how many attempts are made to crack the password, how quickly the adversary can make each attempt, and the size of the password space. The longer the minimum length of the password is, the larger the password space.

DoD can perform due diligence on sources of software to mitigate the risk that malicious software is introduced to those sources. Therefore, if software is downloaded from a DoD approved source, then it is less likely to be malicious than if it is downloaded from an unapproved source. To prevent access to unapproved sources, the operating system, in most cases, can be configured to disable user access to public application stores. However, in some cases, DoD may approve downloads directly from the OS vendor.

Without strong mutual authentication, a mobile device may connect to an unauthorized network. In many cases, the user may falsely believe that the device is connected to an authorized network and then provide authentication credentials and other sensitive information. EAP-TLS is strong mutual authentication, leveraging a public key infrastructure. Its use greatly mitigates risk associated with authentication transactions.

VPNs are vulnerable to attack if they are not supported by strong authentication. An adversary may be able to gain access to network resources and sensitive information if they can compromise the authentication process. Common Access Card (CAC) authentication is a strong cryptographic two-factor authentication that greatly mitigates the risk of VPN authentication breaches. Other DoD approved PKI mechanisms provide similar levels of assurance.

Use of non-standard communications protocols can affect both the availability and confidentiality of communications. IPSec and SSL/TLS are both well-known and tested protocols that provide strong assurance with respect to both IA and interoperability.

Many instant messaging systems have known vulnerabilities, some of which allow an adversary to install malware on the device. This malware can then be used to obtain sensitive information or further compromise DoD information systems. Restricting IM traffic to DoD authorized IM systems mitigates the risk of using IM technology.

If unauthorized device authentication certificates are installed on the device, there is the potential that the device may connect to a rogue device or network. Rogue devices can mimic the behavior of authorized equipment to trick the user into providing authentication credentials, which could then in turn be used to compromise DoD information and networks. Restricting device authentication certificates to an authorized list mitigates the risk of attaching to rogue devices and networks.

Proxy servers can inspect traffic for malware and other signs of a security attack. Allowing a mobile device to access the public Internet without proxy server inspection forgoes the protection that the proxy server would otherwise provide. Malware downloaded onto the device could have a wide variety of malicious consequences, including loss of sensitive DoD information. Forcing traffic to flow through a proxy server greatly mitigates the risk of access to public Internet resources.

Proxy servers can inspect traffic for malware and other signs of a security attack. Allowing a mobile device to access the public Internet without proxy server inspection forgoes the protection that the proxy server would otherwise provide. Malware downloaded onto the device could have a wide variety of malicious consequences, including loss of sensitive DoD information. Forcing traffic to flow through a proxy server greatly mitigates the risk of access to public Internet resources.

Security related parameters are those parameters impacting the security state of the system and include parameters related to the implementation of other IA controls. If these controls are not implemented, the system may be vulnerable to a variety of attacks. The use of an MDM allows an organization to assign values to security related parameters across all the devices it manages. This provides assurance that the required mobile OS security controls are being enforced, and that the device user or an adversary has not modified or disabled the controls. It also greatly increases efficiency and manageability of devices in a large scale environment relative to an environment in which each device must be configured separately.

Security related parameters are those parameters impacting the security state of the system and include parameters related to the implementation of other IA controls. If these controls are not implemented, the system may be vulnerable to a variety of attacks. The use of an MDM allows an organization to assign values to security related parameters across all the devices it manages. This provides assurance that the required mobile OS security controls are being enforced, and that the device user or an adversary has not modified or disabled the controls. It also greatly increases efficiency and manageability of devices in a large scale environment relative to an environment in which each device must be configured separately.

Security related parameters are those parameters impacting the security state of the system and include parameters related to the implementation of other IA controls. If these controls are not implemented, the system may be vulnerable to a variety of attacks. The use of an MDM allows an organization to assign values to security related parameters across all the devices it manages. This provides assurance that the required mobile OS security controls are being enforced, and that the device user or an adversary has not modified or disabled the controls. It also greatly increases efficiency and manageability of devices in a large scale environment relative to an environment in which each device must be configured separately.

Security related parameters are those parameters impacting the security state of the system and include parameters related to the implementation of other IA controls. If these controls are not implemented, the system may be vulnerable to a variety of attacks. The use of an MDM allows an organization to assign values to security related parameters across all the devices it manages. This provides assurance that the required mobile OS security controls are being enforced, and that the device user or an adversary has not modified or disabled the controls. It also greatly increases efficiency and manageability of devices in a large scale environment relative to an environment in which each device must be configured separately.

The device acts as a personal hotspot when it accepts remote connections on a local area network interface for the purposes of routing traffic to a wide area network interface. The most common implementation is to accept local area Wi-Fi connections to reach ISP service provided by a cellular data carrier. The objective is to ensure the remote devices are not able to access any applications, data, or other operating system functionality on the device. A core assumption of the MOS SRG is that mobile devices do not serve applications to remote devices. If remote access to applications and data were feasible, this would open up a wide variety of vulnerabilities in which an adversary with a remote wireless capability could breach system security. Precluding this possibility greatly mitigates the risk of such an attack.

The device acts as a personal hotspot when it accepts remote connections on a local area network interface for the purposes of routing traffic to a wide area network interface. The most common implementation is to accept local area Wi-Fi connections to reach ISP service provided by a cellular data carrier. The objective is to ensure the remote devices are not able to access any applications, data, or other operating system functionality on the device. A core assumption of the MOS SRG is that mobile devices do not serve applications to remote devices. If remote access to applications and data were feasible, this would open up a wide variety of vulnerabilities in which an adversary with a remote wireless capability could breach system security. Precluding this possibility greatly mitigates the risk of such an attack.

Operating system updates contain new security related features and security patches that address known vulnerabilities. Running the latest DoD approved software version improves the security posture of the mobile device.

The cornerstone of the PKI is the private key used to encrypt or digitally sign information. If the private key is stolen, this will lead to the compromise of the authentication and non-repudiation gained through PKI because the attacker can use the private key to digitally sign documents and can pretend to be the authorized user. Allowing unauthenticated access to private keys can enable an adversary in possession of the device to decrypt messages encrypted with the public key and to digitally sign data, thereby potentially enabling an adversary to impersonate the user in any application that uses that private key for user authentication. Requiring complexity requirements for the authentication to access keys saved in the certificate store protects sensitive information. A weak password may enable an adversary to crack it, and give it the ability to use the private key to decrypt sensitive information or improperly impersonate the user of the device.

Software-based certificates are required to authenticate many web sites. Hardware-based tokens are embedded in the DoD Common Access Card (CAC). Without both software and hardware-based asymmetric key technology, there is the potential that critical authentication transactions cannot occur. This will either hinder performance of the mission or degrade the IA posture of one or more applications. If the operating system can support both software and hardware-based asymmetric key technology, this provides assurance that all required certificate-based transactions are supported.

DoD root and intermediate PKI certificates are used to verify the authenticity of PKI certificates of users and web services. If the root and intermediate certificates are not available, an adversary could falsely sign a certificate in such a way that it could not be detected. Providing access to the DoD root and intermediate PKI certificates greatly diminishes the risk of this attack.

The recommended setting for the maximum number of consecutive unsuccessful unlock attempts is 10. In some environments, a lower number may be needed to provide greater protection of sensitive information. Allowing for configuration enables the local command to enforce greater protection when it is deemed necessary. If the limit is not configurable, then it is permissible for a site to procure and deploy devices that enforce the limit specified by the organization, so long as that limit does not exceed 10.

Proxy servers can inspect traffic for malware and other signs of a security attack. Allowing a mobile device to access the public Internet without proxy server inspection forgoes the protection that the proxy server would otherwise provide. Malware downloaded onto the device could have a wide variety of malicious consequences, including loss of sensitive DoD information. Forcing traffic to flow through a proxy server greatly mitigates the risk of access to public Internet resources. Proxy profiles specify how users use a proxy server to access web services on the Internet or on the DoD network. A proxy profile can be associated with a Wi-Fi profile or VPN profile. For users to use a proxy server when they connect to the Internet or the DoD network using the BlackBerry Infrastructure, associate a proxy profile with a BlackBerry Device Service instance. To add a proxy profile to a BlackBerry Device Service instance, all devices running BlackBerry 10 OS associated with the instance use the proxy profile to access web services on the Internet or DoD's network using the BlackBerry Infrastructure. Devices use the BlackBerry Infrastructure when a VPN or Wi-Fi connection is not available.