Smartphones have become part of the corporate landscape, and email admins must contend with remote email. There’s no avoiding it, and the productivity gains are just too big to veto them due to security concerns and administrative complexities.

The Apple iPhone may not be the most technologically superior smartphone, but it is the most trendy and cool-looking, and it’s what road warriors ask for. And with the latest iteration of the iPhone now out on the market, that demand is only going to increase. A Silicon.com survey recently asked IT chiefs if they have plans to offer the iPhone, and most responded that they are not. Two out of the 12 panel members said that they would agree to offer it.

When road warriors send and receive email from a smartphone, there are natural security concerns, regardless of which smartphone platform is being used. These include:

1. Is the smartphone secured against malware?
2. Is the user taking advantage of a secure connection (https) to the mail server when checking and sending email?
3. Is there authentication in place?
4. Are there any precautions against physical theft?

More rigorous authentication is needed for remote email, whether it’s from a smartphone or a notebook, simply because of the increased risk of theft. A desktop in the office may typically be configured so that email is automatically checked every 15 minutes, and typically, the user does not have to manually enter the email password to retrieve or send. With a smartphone though, there’s an obvious attraction to a thief, especially if it’s a trendy little goodie like the iPhone. And when they do steal it, if there is no manual password requirement, the thief can get into the owner’s email with no trouble at all.