iPhone security is "enterprise class" says Cisco

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 02 July 2008 12:42

Business IT - Technology

Doubts have been cast on the security of the iPhone for business use but a CTO with networking industry leader Cisco, is very happy that it is up to scratch, and says Cisco has big plans for iPhone unified comms applications.

Writing on an official Cisco blog site, Joe Burton, CTO of Cisco’s voice technology group, said: "The fact that Apple is now supporting enterprise-class security features such as Cisco IPSec VPN and WPA2/802.11x make the business case for the iPhone even more compelling for companies with mobile workforces."

He added: "Since the iPhone seems destined to be a popular device, we are eager to provide our customers and partners with the most compelling unified communications experience possible on it. Second, as we have worked with the iPhone, we have gotten very excited by its programming capabilities.  The robust operating system, powerful hardware, and great programming tools allow us to consider some exciting applications and experiences for the iPhone...Our engineers are already demonstrating some compelling applications. I can’t wait to use them."

Cisco has a global reputation for its security expertise. Last month it was selected by the Information Systems Security Association - the largest international professional association for information security specialists with 10,000 members in 70 countries - as its '2007 Outstanding Organisation of the Year', in recognition of its contributions to ISSA and the security profession overall. "Cisco represents leadership and innovation in the information security industry," said ISSA international president Howard A Schmidt.