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The Real iPad Security Workaround: Don’t Trust iPad Security

Written by Frank Hayes
October 27th, 2011

By now you’ve probably seen how easy it is to unlock an iPad 2 without knowing the password. Local TV news anchors are having a field day with this one, because even they can figure out how to exploit the hole Apple left in iOS5. It requires using the iPad 2’s magnetic smart cover and about five seconds of poking buttons and covering and uncovering the screen—a truly impressive security fail.

Apple has come up with a workaround (change the smart cover-related settings) and promises a patch soon, but this should still remind retail chains they need to be doing their own security in apps running on in-store mobile devices. Making sure a custom app automatically locks itself when it’s not being used will cost an associate a few extra seconds for one more password, but you really don’t want a thief to walk off with a tablet running a live application that’s connected with your payment or inventory systems. (And if your in-store iPads don’t have their own smart covers? Let’s just say that thieves tend to come prepared.)

Posted in In-Store, Mobile/Wireless/Contactless, Security/Fraud
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