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Apple’s much hyped iPad was released on 3rd April 2010, and since then it has become one of the most sought after tablet computers.

It is equally appealing to students, entrepreneurs and office workers and it quickly found its application in all genres of daily life.

With its increased demand and use, and keeping in view its fragile design, some security issues were reported. In this article I will discuss iPad security.

We will see what security threats you beloved iPad faces and what measures you can take to make it more secure and safe.

The iPad is likely to inherit some of the security issues that were found in Iphone when it comes to its use in the corporate sector. The iPad is more vulnerable because it is supposed to be used in a mini laptop like fashion. It may have the striking gadgets and beauty, but the iPad lacks proper security measures that are mandatory for a laptop or a device manufactured for use as a laptop or personal computer.

Although the iPad is even more tightly locked and secured as compared to the iphone, the major vulnerabilities are browser exploits and phishing. There are also some specific worms which tend to compromise iphone security.

But most of the cyber criminals are after personal information such as IDs, passwords, pin numbers and contact information, so they would likely use social engineering tactics such as phishing attacks to obtain that information. Fake Wifi hotspots can also prove to be a great security risk for the iPad. People using the iPad for surfing are more likely to be hit by a middle-man attack.

The tactic would be same, luring you to connect to an unsecured and compromised wifi network making it seem like a secure and trusted network. When talking about data security and integrity, we all know that the iphone was not very good at encryption; unfortunately the iPad is likely to carry this same trend until Apple releases a specific patch to address that issue. Last but not the least, hackers also present a major threat to iPad.

This has been demonstrated before; when a group of hackers called Goatse security exploited an authentication page on the AT & T website. They obtained approximately 11400 email address, the page on the AT & T website returned the email address upon receiving the product number of iPad associated with that email address. The email address including the white house chief of staff was also hacked.

After understating the vulnerabilities that an iPad faces, now we move on to how we can make our iPad secure. When considering iPad security we must understand the following points:

• How to prevent the unauthorized use of the iPad;

• Strong encryption techniques to protect data on the iPad even when the iPad is stolen or lost;

• Network encryption and security of data in transmission from an iPad to another device;

• Security for the iPad OS.

Your iPad comes with some of the most striking security features. The following points are critical when talking about iPad security, by following the below mentioned rules you can make your iPad more safe and secure and you can protect your iPad from hackers.

Prevent unauthorized access:

The most basic rule for protecting a device such as the iPad is to never leave it alone. Always keep your iPad with you or keep your eye on it. Even if you plan to leave it alone for short period of time you must use the passcode feature on the iPad. The passcode lock feature locks your iPad when left unused for a specific time or turned off,and to activate the device you must enter the correct passcode (learn about password recovery tools).

You can also adjust the minimum time after which the iPad would be automatically locked with the passcode. The passcode lock in the iPad has another secure feature - it can wipe out all your data after a specific number of failed unlock attempts, and again the number of attempts can be adjusted. You can combine letters and numbers in your passcode to make it more secure. The password can also be set to expire after a specific number of days.

iPad usage restrictions:

The device restriction feature allows you to block specific applications on your iPad for some or all users. The application includes network enabled applications such as youtube or itunes. You can also use device restriction to disable the installation of new programs on your iPad. This feature lets you impose specific usage control policies for your employees using iPad.

Data Protection:

The most important asset stored in your iPad is your personal data and contacts. To ensure the security of your data present in your iPad storage it is very important to use proper and state of the art standard encryption techniques. To make your task easier your iPad offers you a 256 bit AES encoding procedure. This is a hardware based encryption that is turned on by default and cannot be disabled by users. However it is still important to use additional encryption methods to ensure iPad security. You also must back up all your important data.

Another feature related to data protection on your iPad is remote wipe and a similar feature called local wipe. The remote wipe feature allows the user to remotely wipe off all the data present in the iPad and lock the iPad in case it is stolen or lost. The local wipe works in the same way, it removes all the data from the iPad when specific unsuccessful passcode unlock attempts are made.

Ensure secure network communication:

One of the biggest benefits of the iPad is its portability. You can use it anywhere and at anytime. However if you are using your iPad for surfing the Internet and want to connect to it via a wifi hotspot it is extremely important to ensure that the network you are connecting to is a secure and trusted network. Always encrypt your data for transmission from your iPad to any other mobile device. You must consider VPN (virtual private Network). The iPad provides support for a number of VPN technologies like PPTP, CISCO IPSEC, L2TP providing you the highest level of encryption and security for transmitting sensitive data.

Always disable your Bluetooth and wifi when not in use. This will not only put your iPad on a battery saving mode but will prevent it from connecting to unidentified and insecure networks. Obtain free access to Find my iPad feature through Mobile me. This feature allows you to track your iPad in case it is lost or stolen.

Always keep your iPad up to date by checking and downloading the latest updates from Apple. And last but not the least, if you are going to jail break your iPad, be very careful as it will disable the security mechanism that Apple configured for your device.

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