iPad Security Issues! Say what…

Another day and yet another iPad commercial of how great it is, well tell that to the 114,000 email owners who’s emails where hijacked by a brute force attack on ATT’s network. Apparently a poorly written script was the culprit. I know your saying well what’s this got to do with the iPad. Ah hello it only happened to iPad 3G owners which means because the iPad 3G has essentially a sim card to connect to the 3G network they were able to hijack customers personal information.

So far the reports are only saying that they were emails but who knows what else they got from these iPads. The worst part about it is that consumers think that these devices are secure when they are not. Yet they make you enter your personal information right from the device instead of having you go to a secure web site to do so or better yet doing it right from an ATT / Apple Store, who cares if consumers are lazy these companies should make them. Convenience over security these criminals love every minute of it.

This is only one of the issues with this device. There are other security issues such as Safari XPS attacks (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4196) which not only affects the iPad but also the iPhone, iPod Touch, MAC OSX and yes you guessed it Safari running on Windows as though Windows does not have its own security issues to deal with.

Sure the device is great to show your friends and for you to say “hey look at this cool device, is a big version of my iPod touch, I can’t get enough of these things” – pathetic. People please get it together identity theft is very real and can bring you some serious headaches. For you small business owners stay away from it sure is great for presentations and such but there are other more secure devices coming which will run the Android OS; have more bang for the buck and will be more secure such as the Notion Ink’s Adam Tablet (http://www.notionink.in/adamoverview.php) and the current WePad (http://tinyurl.com/y9x7joj).

Consumers need to start thinking before going out there and spending their hard earned money. They need to look at all aspects of the devices they are looking to purchase. Specially if such a device deals with making digital Internet connections over wireless networks.

For more on this story continue reading:

• ‘Brute force’ script snatched iPad e-mail addresses
• Up To 114,000 AT&T iPad Customers’ Security Has Been Breached

What’s so great about the Apple iPad?

As I was watching the tube last night, yes it was a geeky show on the Discovery channel! So I came across this iPad commercial which looked nothing like the I’m a Mac or their iPod commercials and I realized that there is nothing great about the iPad. Why? Because there is nothing special about it. It behaves exactly like my iPod touch.

We recently got a hold of one at the office so we could test all of our web applications, designs and to our surprise it behaved again just like my iPod touch. So basically this thing is a big iPod touch with nothing new. You can use the existing applications which you can use on your iPhone or iPod touch(http://tinyurl.com/y8j5s22) and the darn thing has Wi-Fi connectivity issues; out of all things that could go wrong is the Wi-Fi.

All the web applications behaved just like they would on a Mac/PC or on any other standards compliant web browser(Internet Explorer does not count). Some of the form controls on the web applications were a bit out of place although the CSS for these web applications validates without any errors and they are design with WebKit in mind.

Also I recently read some disturbing articles about how Apple wants developers to only use their tools to create applications for all their devices this just does not seem right. A developer should be able to use what ever tools he/she deems fit to create applications. So I’m starting to wonder how long can their devices survive starting with the iPad. Sure the iPhone was great when it first arrived and so was the iPod but these devices are quickly being dismissed by other products which are more open for development and less expensive such as the Android.

There are tons of small tech firms coming out with tablet devices based on Android as well such as the WePad(http://tinyurl.com/y8wvbxs) and the Adam by NotionInk(http://www.notionink.in/adamoverview.php).

So going back to the commercial on the tube it stated that it is already a revolution but why? There is nothing revolutionary about the device in fact touch screen tablets have been around since the year 2000. So why would Apple make such a claim. I honestly think that is because people like the Apple designs but not because there is anything revolutionary about it.

The one thing I liked about it is that is light and it is slick just like all of Apple’s products. But besides this nothing else stands out. If you guys have a different take on this device please share it or if you plan to get one or wait for the competition to arrive. I would like to be enlighten.