iPhone Hacked! iTold you so!

My dear loyal readers, join me as I bask in the glory of being right.  Slashdot has posted an article claiming that “independent researchers” have exploited the iPhone.  Specific details haven’t yet been released, but information is to be made public at DefCon in a few weeks.

I am an Apple fanatic, but the elitist attitude that Jobs’ crew has taken towards security has frustrated me for quite some time.  Well it appears that the Apple has had a pretty big bite in the Granny Smith on this one.  What the hell were they thinking?  You can’t thumb your nose at the bad guys and at the same time ignore the structure that will keep the bad guys out.   Apple has to realize that as an organization it is much too big a target to avoid hits from the bad guys any longer.  If Apple is to maintain is growth rate it must embrace security as an important piece of that success.

How many CEOs, CIOs, and executives will depend on Apple if they can’t even build a secure cell phone?  Once you’ve lost the top layer of the organization, you can count yourself out of the fight and probably for good.  Any executives out there reading this, take it to heart.  You aren’t in Mayberry any more.  The internet has transformed Mayberry in to New York, Beijing, and Brussels.  You can’t leave your door unlocked and you can’t ignore information security.  If you intend to compete in a connected world you have to think about business in a whole new way.  Don’t think your connected or that your business isn’t dependant upon the internet?  Try doing business without it.  Oh, and by the way that means your suppliers and vendors can’t use the internet either.

How do you think your business will fare now?  (… imagine hearing crickets chirping…)

Lets face it, and this goes for you too Apple, we are in a new world and it’s time that we wake up and smell the mocha latte.  Information security MUST be considered, planned, and implemented if we want our organizations to succeed.  Has Apple learned it’s lesson with the iPhone?  Probably not.  It won’t be until we as consumers begin demanding secure products that our vendors will make the move towards providing them.  Being that Apple has a relatively small footprint in corporate America, the iPhone issue most likely won’t be the driver that moves them to change how they consider security.