iOS Hacker's Handbook

Chapter 2

iOS in the Enterprise

As Apple's iOS-based devices have gained popularity among consumers, more and more enterprises have begun to allow employees to access and store enterprise data on these devices. Typically, the enterprise purchases and fully manages the smartphones or other devices that may be used to access sensitive enterprise data. In some cases (and in what is becoming increasingly common), enterprises may allow employees to access enterprise data from devices they personally own. In either case, the benefits of using these mobile devices to access enterprise data must be weighed against the new security risks that they present.

Any mobile device can get misplaced, lost, or stolen. If the mobile device stores or is capable of accessing sensitive enterprise data, there is a risk that this data may be recoverable and fall into the wrong hands. For these reasons, it is important that access to the physical device be restricted by requiring a strong passcode, and that it can be remotely locked or wiped if it is lost. This chapter describes how to use Apple's iPhone Configuration Utility and Lion Server's Profile Manager to create and apply configuration profiles to iOS devices. These profiles can be used to ensure that the devices enforce your organization's security policy, including requiring a strong device passcode, for example. As a Mobile Device Management (MDM) service, Profile Manager can also be used to remotely lock or wipe a lost device.

iOS Configuration ...