Federal government struggles to manage communication devices

The US government is struggling to tame a technological free-for-all for its 2.7 million civilian employees and their myriad phones, tablets and other devices.

What has emerged is a patchwork quilt of rules and practices that vary from agency to agency, all of which leave room for interpretation. And it’s only going to get trickier. A new generation of workers now has better mobile devices than agencies’ clunky options and is pushing for more access and quicker connections. But that means greater security risks.