Fortune 500 Company Urging Employees Not to Upgrade to iOS 6 Over Exchange Bug

[coolspot18]

Originally Posted by BMNB1tch

who the hell still uses exchange Jeeps!

Just about every company in the world ... if not exchange than lotus notes.

There's no real alternative. And no, hosting e-mail in the cloud is not possible for many companies.

[Manderby]

Originally Posted by blackhand1001

[...] People from that same time that actually understand and have a passion for computers can do a much better job, but they seem outnumbered by huge numbers of incompetant IT people.

I know. We are in the same boat. Not in the same field though.

But I don't complain, more freelance jobs for us!

[hkenneth]

Originally Posted by vkramer

If I could I would urge people never to touch Microsoft Exchange due to the fact that admins have the ability to wipe your phone with one click and no permission.

What a buncha ******** that is...

That is what I am concerning about. My company's admins forced anyone who uses the exchange server to have a password on its phone. Why do I have to set a system-wise password just to access to one of my many mail accounts?

[jtara]

Originally Posted by BMNB1tch

who the hell still uses exchange Jeeps!

pls join the 21st century

it's not 1995 anymore

Somebody needs to phone IMAP with the news.

Lots of people are using Exchange (protocol) without actually using Exchange, because it some ways it is superior to IMAP, and can send push notifications to iOS.

For example, I use Rackspace email. I enabled the option to be able to use Exchange protocol. It's not really using Exchange. It just gives access to my IMAP data over Exchange protocol, so now I can get push and the iPhone email client doesn't need to poll the server.

IMAP has no provision for push. You get instant notifications on your desktop email client only because your client is constantly connected to the server.

[coolspot18]

Originally Posted by hkenneth

Why do I have to set a system-wise password just to access to one of my many mail accounts?

iOS needs to have the ability to sandbox private from work like BB10. That way if your work admin wipes your work stuff it won't affect your private data.

[dfuerpo]

Originally Posted by BMNB1tch

who the hell still uses exchange Jeeps!

pls join the 21st century

it's not 1995 anymore

Well, as of 2009 (latest data I could find) 57% of U.S. corporations, but 0% of homeless people.

[RMo]

Originally Posted by BMNB1tch

who the hell still uses exchange Jeeps!

pls join the 21st century

it's not 1995 anymore

And what, exactly, would you recommend instead? There are few, if any, well-supported alternatives for integrated calendar, e-mail, and presence services (particularly ones that tie in with AD or something similar). Also, Exchange was still a baby in 1995. You must be thinking of something else.

[Mr. Retrofire]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

Instead of simply sending a notification to the meeting organizer that the user will not attend, iOS 6 is sending meeting cancellation notices to the entire distribution list, effectively canceling the invitation for all attendees.

iOS is a toy (for kids). *lol*

[vkramer]

Originally Posted by Small White Car

Neither iCloud nor Exchange ask the phone for permission before wiping it, so I'm not sure why you're suggesting one over the other for that reason.

With iCloud you can choose to wipe your phone, with Exchange some ******* IT guy can wipe your phone without you asking.

[Henriok]

I see this as an Exchange problem. This is a privilege escalation issue. How can _I_ affect the other user's statuses? The problem might be triggered by iOS 6, but it seems to be an underlying issue with Exchange. This shouldn't be able to happen.

[Mr. Retrofire]

Originally Posted by BMNB1tch

it's not 1995 anymore

Really?

[hkenneth]

Originally Posted by coolspot18

iOS needs to have the ability to sandbox private from work like BB10. That way if your work admin wipes your work stuff it won't affect your private data.

I have actually sent a feature request to Apple long ago...

[batchtaster]

Originally Posted by John.B

Edumacate us then:

Already stated. It's not "taking a virus infected machine and cleaning it", it's "see that desktop computer over there? Not any more because I just set fire to it."

I think it's acceptable to have IT director approve smartphone wipes, more to track hardware that was lost than the loss of irreplaceable data. We have systems to regularly track approval processes and I'd be shocked if you didn't as well.

Again, if I was in your organization, I'd be lobbying for apps that didn't silo data on smartphones (any smartphones) to begin with.

Data is one aspect of it. There are others, including vulnerability to legal action against the organization. As well as the fact that such a wipe is likely to be attached to a larger issue - it doesn't just happen in isolation. In the case of simply a lost device, that's the easier scenario, because nobody's going to complain. Except maybe the person who found it and decided to keep it. But wiping a device that is not lost is likely to be related to a larger disciplinary or legal investigation (firing, etc), and falls into the same boat as locking someone out of their office, locking their account and confiscating their laptop. You gotta have your ducks in a row, or stuff hits the fan.

OK, picking up on your edited post. That's the cost of BYOD in the enterprise. Users have to understand how and why they need to backup their phones, and that losing it with corporate data means the phone has to be wiped.

Losing a device is not the problem. The guy who originally went all tin foil-hat about Exchange wipes was saying that:

admins have the ability to wipe your phone with one click and no permission.

You lose your device, and you'll probably be grateful for the wipe - you'll probably even be the one requesting it - just like with iCloud Find My iPhone wipes. But for unwanted wipes, you're entering your organization's security enforcement policy.

[Geckotek]

Well that answers an issue we're seeing.

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Originally Posted by BMNB1tch

who the hell still uses exchange Jeeps!

pls join the 21st century

it's not 1995 anymore

Any self-respecting business. This isn't your mom's pie shack, join the 21st century.

[notabadname]

Oooops

[Geckotek]

Originally Posted by Small White Car

I would hope a company of these sizes would not be recommending any x.0 software updates.

Problem is Apple pushes an update on the user's device and they just updated despite what we tell them. Especially when a majority of the iOS devices are BYOD, not company owned.

[Daveoc64]

Originally Posted by vkramer

With iCloud you can choose to wipe your phone, with Exchange some ******* IT guy can wipe your phone without you asking.

Why would they?

If your IT guys are in the habit of randomly wiping devices then you have a bigger problem.

[Grimace]

This has actually been an issue for a long time -- with iOS 5 and 4. It's been REALLY embarrassing. Frankly, I'm glad it is finally getting attention.

[Daveoc64]

Originally Posted by John.B

I'm calling BS on the whole story until we at least know which "Fortune 500 Company" this is.

The problem does indeed appear to exist, so it does not seem far fetched at all.

[Object-X]

If I'm not at the meeting no one will be!

[Mike.L]

This issue exists across several enterprise exchanges. I've seen it do some quirky stuff with Lotus Calendar and Google Apps Calendar. I don't think it's entirely Apple's fault but the use of Exchange by the vendors and companies personal preferences.

[Geckotek]

Originally Posted by John.B

Edumacate us then:



I think it's acceptable to have IT director approve smartphone wipes, more to track hardware that was lost than the loss of irreplaceable data. We have systems to regularly track approval processes and I'd be shocked if you didn't as well.

Again, if I was in your organization, I'd be lobbying for apps that didn't silo data on smartphones (any smartphones) to begin with.



OK, picking up on your edited post. That's the cost of BYOD in the enterprise. Users have to understand how and why they need to backup their phones, and that losing it with corporate data means the phone has to be wiped.

Oooh, I need to get into this conversation.

I'm currently lobbying for several things to happen here in our company re: mobile device security. I work for a very large company and the mobile device security is pretty much a joke. They set policies like encrypt external storage devices, but forget to encrypt the device itself. Then to top it the check the option to all non-provisioned devices to connect. THEN, they provide hundreds of mobile device to users that don't support encryption. WOW...I just can't get over some of the things I see here. They go overboard in security in one area while leaving another area completely vulnerable. SMH...

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Originally Posted by John.B

I'm calling BS on the whole story until we at least know which "Fortune 500 Company" this is.

Mine for one.

[Iconoclysm]

Originally Posted by hkenneth

That is what I am concerning about. My company's admins forced anyone who uses the exchange server to have a password on its phone. Why do I have to set a system-wise password just to access to one of my many mail accounts?

Because your company owns the data and wants to keep it secure.

[Nicksd84]

Ah. We use good for enterprise. Integrating into the mail app would leave the company way too exposed.

[Geckotek]

Originally Posted by vkramer

With iCloud you can choose to wipe your phone, with Exchange some ******* IT guy can wipe your phone without you asking.

As it should be since you are not the owner of that data.