Apple (AAPL) iPhone's major security risk

Posted Oct 25th 2007 12:11PM by Brian White
Filed under: Bad News, Products and Services, Apple Inc (AAPL)

When I meet fans of Apple, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) products, it quickly becomes obvious that these people are in love with the brand. I highly admire Apple myself, although I own none of the company's products. The marketing, design and advertising finesse the company displays has literally no equal in the world right now when it comes to consumer electronics.

But after reading this article about the iPhone's security problems, one begins to think about all the possible time-bombs that are in the clutches of Apple's fans right now. The iPhone product, which sold over one million units in the first three months of launch as reported in Apple's quarterly results this week, is a phenomenon that's still going strong. It has technical shortcomings, but those are easy to ignore given its user interface and 'wow' factor. Evidently, though, there is a major thorn in the side of the product, and it's one that could prove disastrous if the iPhone becomes as ubiquitous as the Windows PC became over a decade ago.

The flaw, as noted by several computer security experts, rests in the way the iPhone's operating system was designed. A popular product -- like Microsoft's Windows, for example -- always becomes a target of digital thieves and hackers, and so far, the iPhone is headed up that scale very rapidly. Security experts liken the problems inherent with Apple's iPhone to the same problems Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) faced when it released Windows 95 over 10 years ago.

If you use Windows Vista today, you are probably familiar with the "Cancel or Allow" pop-up box that comes up so many times during the day when you're using your computer -- that's a result of locking down core operating system security (while annoying customers at the same time). Is the iPhone headed for the day when it is mass-hacked and its popularity declines as customers become fed up with what they could consider to be a state-of-the-art product with outdated and inferior security features? Who knows, but Apple could be in for a shock if some future iPhone upgrades don't take care of the problem.

Tags: AAPL, Apple iPhone, Apple, Inc., Apple,Inc., AppleIphone, inthenews, iPhone, iPhone hacking, iPhone security, IphoneHacking, IphoneSecurity

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-25-2007 @ 12:43PM

Dan L said...

WiReD has WiErD journalistic skills.

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2007/10/23/kim-zetter-and-the-iphone-root-security-myth/

10-25-2007 @ 2:52PM

george scandalis said...

In the face of zero incidents and no reports of any actual malware, virii or trojan horses, you write this blog with that sensationalistic headline touting a potential and an imagined threat of doom for the millions of iPhone adopters unless something is done by Apple.
As if you actually knew what you were writing about.

10-25-2007 @ 1:36PM

dave said...

The most telling thing about this article is when the writer says "I own none of the company's products". Over and over again I see people reviewing apple products without using them. The design and ease of use i.e. the elegance of Apple hardware and software is what makes Apple users so loyal to the brand. It is something hard to quantify, that is why reviewers (especially PC centered ones) often get it wrong when they write about Apple products. For example over and over again reviewers claim that some non-Apple music player blows Apple away with it's features yet people prefer the ipod because it's a joy to use. What's the point of having for example a nokia handphone which has a bonks of features like even a bar code reader when practically no one except tech-head can navigate pass the first layer of menu options? It's like reviewing a car without driving it and just commenting because of it's list of features, a Ford might have an extra cup holder but does it drive better than a Mustang? Besides macs I've owned several PCs over my life and there's no 'joy' using them as compared with a mac. I've thrown my PCs away. I now have 3 macs and one 4 year old power mac is still humming away happily.