Apple iPhone and iPad set to get approved for U.S. Defense dept. use
Apple's devices get the approval, a week after BlackBerry 10 and Samsung Galaxy S4 got the green light.
Pentagon has approved the Apple iPhone and the Apple iPad for use by the United States’ Department of Defense, granting them a security approval that will see them fight for the lucrative U.S. military contracts with BlackBerry and Samsung. The Defense Dept. says that iOS devices running iOS 6 have been approved, with complete security clearance.
This follows similar security clearances and approvals that were given to BlackBerry 10 and the Samsung Galaxy S4, sometime last week. Both BlackBerry handsets, the Z10 and the Q10, received the stamp of approval, while the Samsung Galaxy S4 got through thanks to the KNOX feature that can pretty much wrap applications like contact list, web browser, messages and calendar in a pretty much ‘nothing goes out’ mode. Eventually, after Samsung sends this feature to its other Galaxy devices, they might get the update as well.
However, this really isn’t the end of the story. Despite approvals, the Pentagon still demands that a mobile management system be in place to make each one secure as per the U.S. military standards. The contact for developing this system hasn’t been awarded yet, but will be done this summer.
The approvals means Apple, BlackBerry and Samsung can all expect major orders in the near future, as early as the second half of this year. The Pentagon currently has around 600000 devices operational within its system, and the other departments of the U.S. Government will also use this stamp of approval to make up their minds – pretty much the highest standard of certification regarding the secure-ness of a mobile platform.
Source: Bloomberg