Governor Abbott Announces Statewide Plan Banning Use Of TikTok

The much anticipated State based restrictions on the use of risky apps in app stores has begun, starting with Texas.

Here are a few of the recommendations under consideration in Texas:

• Ban and prevent the download or use of TikTok and prohibited technologies on any state-issued device identified in the statewide plan. This includes all state-issued cell phones, laptops, tablets, desktop computers, and other devices of capable of internet connectivity. Each agency’s IT department must strictly enforce this ban.
• Prohibit employees or contractors from conducting state business on prohibited technology-enabled personal devices.
• Identify sensitive locations, meetings, or personnel within an agency that could be exposed to prohibited technology-enabled personal devices. Prohibited technology-enabled personal devices will be denied entry or use in these sensitive areas.
• Implement network-based restrictions to prevent the use of prohibited technologies on agency networks by any device.
• Work with information security professionals to continuously update the list of prohibited technologies.

[RJB This is where the SAG-CTR and SAGScore can provide valuable insights by providing a trust score (SAGScore) for apps in app stores and other software products downloaded from the Internet, to identify prohibited technologies or technologies with low trust scores to prevent their installation]