iPhone OS 4.0 brings a welcome security boost

Stuart Corner
Friday, 09 April 2010 12:56

Business IT - Security

Support for SSL-VPN in the new iPhone OS 4.0 will increase the options for enterprises wanting to bring the iPhone securely into their corporate IT environment, but further enhancements may still be needed.

Apple announced that the new iPhone OS 4.0, launched in beta, would come with SSL-VPN, saying it "includes support for forthcoming SSL-VPN applications from Juniper Networks and Cisco."

Juniper's director of corporate social media relations, Brendan Lewis, in a blog posting, said SSL-VPN support on the iPhone was "great news for enterprises'¦Apple is taking a few steps to improve the iPhone's ability to help enterprises manage the information flowing to and from their networks.

"One such feature will be the OS 4 support of SSL-VPN applications, including Juniper's'¦When fully released, OS 4 will have integrated, world-class SSL-VPN capabilities versus just supporting IPSec VPNs."

He added: "All the advantages of an SSL-VPN: decreased deployment and support costs while delivering identity-enabled, secure mobile network access, will be available on the iPhone."

Junos Pulse is claimed to be the industry's first downloadable client software that provides secure connections across smartphones, notebooks, netbooks as well as non-mobile devices. At Mobile World Congress in February, Juniper announced Junos Pulse support for Microsoft Windows phones and Nokia Symbian OS devices.

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