Before plunking down $499 or more, plus AT&T's plan charges, for a shiny new Apple iPhone on Friday evening, be sure to remember that the Internet aspect of the device could be targeted by malicious attackers.
Keep IPhone Security In Mind
Apple just had to update its Safari browser twice in the past week, both on Windows and Mac OS X. Apple users who believe security issues start and end with Windows should keep that in mind when making an iPhone purchase.
Symantec researcher Marc Fossi plans on looking into buying the latest Apple gadget. Fossi noted how the relatively low userbase of Mac users and smartphone users have mostly kept those platforms under the radar of cyberspace attackers.
The convergence of Mac OS X on a mobile device with Internet capability could be a tempting target for attackers:
Projections made by various analysts suggest that iPhone adoption will be quite high. This allows attackers to target a larger audience with malicious code designed to run on the devices. The Safari browser and HTML email capabilities of the device could present an ideal attack vector.
As recently demonstrated, Safari can be affected by vulnerabilities just as easily as other browsers on the market. While Apple may patch these holes on both the desktop and mobile platforms, the question is will users who have to pay for data transfers be willing to download large security updates on a regular basis?
This isn't going to deter the diehard Apple faithful from grabbing an iPhone. It is something to consider as part of the ownership of one. If AT&T makes the data transfer charge a flat monthly rate, and doesn't penalize people from grabbing a big security download, that should mitigate the possible security threat.
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