Tips for Protecting Your iOS 5 Device

iPhones and iPads are becoming increasingly prevalent in today's office environment. Many, if not most, of these devices are personally owned, yet used to access organizational data. This can create a vulnerability where data that is otherwise tightly controlled is exposed to theft or loss when it resides on an iOS device. Most security professionals advise following "best practice" security guidelines to secure mobile devices, but what are "best practices" when it comes to your iPhone or iPad? I've collected the following tips that I consider essential for locking down your iPhone or iPad. Even if you aren't worried about losing corporate data, theft (or loss) of your own personal data can be devastating.

Goodbye Android, Hello iPhone

I'm getting an iPhone today after years of loyal Android OS use. Why you may ask? Well the Android security model finally got to me after a McAffee report noted a massive jump in Android malware that made it the most targeted mobile platform. Given that the iOS market share is far larger than that of Android this trend made no sense. Examining most malware trends shows that the vast majority targets the platform with the highest availability.

Web 3.0 is Mobile

Reviewing this morning's New York Times, skimming stories about Samsung counter-suing Apple over copyright infringement centering around patents for mobile technologies, and coverage of the recent Amazon E2 cloud services outage taking down sites like 4square, and flipping past advertisements for the new Apple iPad2, it occurred to me that the technology world is experiencing a seismic shift like nothing it has seen since the introduction of the internet. Mobile technology is booming, end running challenges formerly considered insurmountable, like the Germans circling the Maginot line.