The talk around TikTok on government computers to date has focused on whether or not it should be banned, due to concerns regarding security and the harvesting of user data. However, there’s been remarkably little discussion as to how any ban would be implemented, and what risks or challenges it might pose to cybersecurity, in the event potential users work to circumvent whatever restrictions are put in place.
Writing for Gizmodo, cybersecurity researcher Robert Olson points out some of the technical difficulties a TikTok ban would cause, beginning with the filtering of addresses believed to be owned by TikTok, and the limitations of DNS sinkholes in blocking computers from looking up TikTok server addresses. In both cases, it’s far too easy for a determined user to bypass these, in manners which would then expose them and the company to greater cybersecurity risk. Even blocking the app from phones and other mobile devices faces difficulties, as many devices allow for sideloading, which increases the risk of an unofficial, hacked, or otherwise compromised version of the app being installed.
Whether or not a TikTok ban is necessary, more consideration needs to first be given to how to safely implement it.
Source:
https://gizmodo.com/tiktok-ban-tik-tok-ceo-cybersecurity-security-disaster-1850334082
