As the dust settles on the many reports that have focused on Apple’s iPad since its announcement on Wednesday, people are starting to think about the future of the device and how people are going to use it. One issue that comes to mind, for us at least, is the question of iPad security. Is the iPad secure? What are the security risks for the device?
On the surface, the iPad is pretty much the same as the iPod touch or iPhone (without the built-in ability to make phone calls). It uses the same OS, and benefits from the same security features that the iPhone OS contains. One such feature is sandboxing, which Apple explains as follows:
In iPhone OS, each application is put in a sandbox that restricts the application to using only its own files and preferences, and limits the system resources to which the application has access. For example, an application can call the public networking APIs to communicate over a network, but has no direct access to the communications or networking hardware.
The main issue for iPad security remains that of jailbreaking, or hacking the device to allow the user to install software not sold through the Apple Store. We saw, last year, a number of malware attacks on jailbroken iPhones (such as this, this, and this.) If users jailbreak the iPad, it will be just as susceptible to such attacks, though the wifi version will be less at risk because its range will be more limited.
For now, though, the iPad seems as secure as the iPhone, but we’ll know more when the device is released.
