iPad News: Apple Beefs Up iPad Security

Posted Jan 24, 2011 at 5:47PM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: iPad News Tags: apple, ios, news, tablet

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As long as most iPads were in the hands of consumers who used them primarily for e-mail, streaming video and browsing the Internet, security was an issue, but not a major one for Apple. But as more of the tablets are purchased for business use and as Apple is making a major push into this area, issues of security become vital. Apple has just moved to address the concerns of business by hiring former NSA analyst David Rice to beef up the company’s security and credibility. Rice comes packing some major credentials, having been previously employed as a Global Network Vulnerability analyst for the National Security Agency and as a Special Duty Cryptologic officer for the Navy. Rice is now serving as the Executive Director of strategic consulting firm The Monterey Group, and Consulting Director for Policy Reform at the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit. He's probably best known as the author of the 2007 book “Geekonomics,” a heavy-duty manual on software security vulnerabilities. In Rice, Apple seems to have found a guy who’s not afraid to tell it like it is.

In a 2008 interview with Forbes, Rice did not hide his disdain for the way major tech firms write their software: “Companies like Oracle or Microsoft say their software is unbreakable or trustworthy. But those statements are vacuous and cheap to make, and there’s no consequences for when they’re wrong. When you’re buying Oracle’s or Apple’s software there’s no notion of what you’re getting into. Some say Apple is more secure than Microsoft. That’s a totally subjective statement, there’s no objective measurement going on–the risk is invisible. So the market really can’t choose to buy more secure software.” Rice sounds like a straight shooter—just the type Apple needs to help them move the iPad into the corporate IT world.

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