US law enforcement agents, who are in Dublin for a major cybersecurity conference, have warned of the importance of protecting official Government devices.
It comes as Ireland seeks fresh security advice about the use of the Chinese owned video-sharing app TikTok after the US and EU moved to ban the platform from official devices used by staff.
Representatives from the FBI and the US Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) are attending Zero Day Con along with cybersecurity experts from around the world.
"I don't have (TikTok) on my phone and I'm not going to put it on there," said NCIS Deputy Director of Operations Christopher McMahon.
"When there is even a potential that they could be collecting data, it is really important to us to think deeply about how we use that and how much data we want to give up," he added.
Eric Smithmier, a Supervisory Special Agent with the FBI said that, in general, it was important to be wary when dealing with nation state supported companies.
"We need to understand that there could be a threat there and that goes across a myriad of companies, we need to know what we are putting on our devices," Mr Smithmier said.
TikTok has described the banning of its app on official devices as misguided and based on misconceptions, insisting that user data is secure.
Zero Day Con also heard warnings today that businesses should make the threat posed by geopolitical tensions a top priority this year.
Raluca Saceanu is the organiser of the event and also the CEO of Irish cybersecurity firm Smarttech247.
"Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, our detection rates have increased dramatically," said Ms Saceanu.
"Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the disruption caused to target potential victims but various nation states are also seizing the opportunity to create disruption and this is something international authorities must be vigilant against," she added.
