I am the CEO of an endpoint management firm, and it's baffling how often governments overlook unsecured devices

A padlock image floating over a smartphone.

In March, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) employees faced abrupt dismissal by the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This agency-on-agency downsizing left many employees in security limbo – without jobs but with access to government-issued devices.

There was no immediate revocation of endpoint credentials, remote lockouts, or retrieval of the hardware and its crucial data. “The agency doesn’t even know how to turn off access to the systems for everyone on administrative leave,” said a former deputy administrator.