[Infowarrior] - Gartner warns on iPhone security, battery issues

[Richard Forno]

Gartner: 'Caveats apply' for enterprise iPhone use
Battery life, security issues could affect custom business apps
By Matt Hamblen
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9111526&pageNumber=1

August 4, 2008 (Computerworld) After three weeks of testing and  
reviewing Apple Inc.'s new iPhone 2.0 firmware and an iPhone 3G for  
use in large businesses, analyst firm Gartner Inc. said the device can  
be supported by IT shops — but only for a narrow set of uses such as  
voice, e-mail, Web browsing and the storage of personal information.

The reason for the restrictions? Security concerns.

The newest iPhone "does not deliver sufficient security for [running]  
custom applications" commonly used on handhelds in enterprise  
settings, Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney wrote in a nine-page research  
note. The report, "iPhone 2.0 Is Ready for the Enterprise, but Caveats  
Apply," concludes: "Enterprises should approach expanded use of the  
iPhone slowly and with close examination."

Users considering adoption of the device should also be aware that  
iPhone data usage can incur high international roaming charges,  
Dulaney said. Also, the iPhone 3G's battery might not even last  
through a full day of e-mail use, he added.

Dulaney made the security warning despite Apple's inclusion of  
password controls and a "remote wipe" capability. Remote wipe enables  
an IT administrator to wipe data on the device from a remote location  
should an iPhone carrying sensitive data be lost or stolen.

Dulaney noted a concern other analysts have raised: Data apparently  
cannot be encrypted on the device itself, even though he said Apple  
officials assured him that there is an API in the firmware to provide  
encryption. The problem seems to be that third-party software vendors  
need to write such an encryption application; the vendors have  
complained about blocked access to the iPhone API needed to build such  
a product, Dulaney said.

If such an encryption application is available, Dulaney said he has  
not been able to judge whether it is viable or how much it uses the  
iPhone's processor or drains the battery.

Apple officials have touted the iPhone 2.0 firmware update and the  
iPhone 3G, launched July 11, as offering business-ready features,  
including access to Exchange e-mail. But Gartner's analysis seems to  
indicate that the device could be business-ready under the right  
circumstances. In general, the new Gartner analysis is not aimed at  
small-business users of the iPhone or prosumers who might need both  
personal and business functions on one device.

Gartner's advice is primarily targeted at IT managers of larger  
organizations who may be asked to distribute and support hundreds or  
even thousands of iPhones to workers while following corporate  
security policies and government regulations designed to keep data out  
of the wrong hands.

Dulaney also noted that iTunes must be installed on end-user desktops  
to receive firmware updates for the iPhone. But automatically allowing  
firmware updates to be installed that way means an IT manager would  
not be able to verify what Apple has delivered. While Apple offers an  
iTunes registry update to control the functions the application can  
perform, Dulaney "strongly" suggested that enterprises instead use  
existing management tools to lock down the registry and disable  
firmware updates and file transfers that "could inject unwanted  
content into the enterprise."

Dulaney suggested that in the future, Apple should create processes  
for managing the iPhone as Microsoft Corp. and Research in Motion Ltd.  
did for Windows Mobile and BlackBerry devices, respectively.

Dulaney also urged IT managers to warn users who might sign up for a  
two-year commitment to the product to assess several factors —  
including how much they travel internationally, since international  
roaming rates for data usage could be high. Data-roaming costs have  
become an issue for at least one major global manufacturer who found  
that because the iPhone makes browsing and data usage so easy,  
travelers can incur thousands of dollars in data costs on a single trip.

Another concern is battery life, Dulaney said. In Gartner's testing  
using default settings on the iPhone 3G, the battery "seldom  
experienced a full day of use," he said. That happened while using  
Exchange ActiveSync, some limited browsing and no telephone calls, he  
said. The drain on the battery may be caused by using the iPhone in a  
Wi-Fi network, or it might be Apple's implementation of ActiveSync  
that requires more power to stay constantly connected to the network  
to deliver new mail.

Also, users might like to know that the iPhone does not support the  
ability to edit attachments in email and that attachments take time to  
download, he said. And he noted that e-mail users can't cut and paste  
details from an e-mail into an appointment application. "The quickest  
way to do this on the iPhone today is to write the details down on a  
piece of paper and re-enter them," Dulaney wrote.