With so much press coverage of Apple’s new device, the potential iPad security risks haven’t been so well publicised.

iPad Security Risks

Although the iPad security is tightly locked down, the device is still likely to be affected by many of the same security issues that affect the iPhone.  These risks include phishing attacks and browser exploits.  There may also be malware related risks.  Although the iPad uses the same operating system as the iPhone, it is able to open PDF documents by default opening it up to potential attacks based on doctored PDF files.

Candid Wuesst, a senior engineer at Symantec, agreed that phishing attacks and browser exploits are the most immediate threat.

“Cybercriminals are after personal and financial information, and many of them employ social engineering tactics, like phishing attacks, that are platform agnostic. Regardless of the platform they’re using, consumers need to be aware of how to spot these threats and how not to fall victim to them”.

The iPad and iPhone operating systems only allow one third party application to run on the device at a time, so the ability to provide security software, which needs to run in the background, is limited.