AT&T began offering enterprise
data plans for iPhones this week, marking the first time the carrier has
pitched its popular consumer device directly to businesses.

According to AT&T, each iPhone enterprise plan will require signing a two-year
service agreement that will include an activation fee. All three enterprise
plans offered by AT&T include unlimited domestic data services, such as
Internet and e-mail. The plans offer three different options for Short Message
Service, including a plan that allows 200 text messages per month (US$45), a
1,500-per-month text plan ($55) and an unlimited text message plan ($65).

Much like the consumer version of the iPhone, the enterprise iPhone offers
Internet access through the Safari Web browser and built-in connection capabilities
through Wi-Fi, EDGE and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. The company says that enterprise
iPhones will have VPN support, including RSA SecurID, which will provide access
to corporate Intranets. The phones will also give users access to corporate
e-mail through IMAP or POP3 services, the company says.

While AT&T's enterprise iPhone offering is sure to generate a lot of interest,
the company still has to answer questions about whether the devices are compatible
with corporate security infrastructure, as many security experts have warned
companies about the potential dangers of allowing iPhones to connect to corporate
networks. Last June, for instance, Gartner told IT executives to keep
iPhones away from their networks, noting that the device lacks a firewall
and does not support e-mail platforms such as Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes.
Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Network Security,
expressed
similar concerns and noted that the devices lacked security management tools
needed to manage which devices can and cannot connect to corporate networks.

Others, however, have argued that security concerns about the iPhone are overblown
and that consumer devices are constantly encroaching upon corporate networks.

"If you are responsible for keeping data inside of your organization,
for the love of everything that is holy, please don't spend too much time on
the iPhone," said David Goldsmith, one of the principals at security consultancy
Matasano Security said, in a posting to the Matasano blog last year. "Allow
us to remind you about all of the data breaches that are happening thanks to
insecure wireless access points, tape backups disappearing, wrapping your newspapers
in customers' personal financial information and stolen laptops."

» posted by abennett

Network World

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