iPhone to Exchange email gateways - Not what IT wants

Synchronica today announced their iPhone to Microsoft Exchange Server gateway capability to UK users. This announcement comes after their six month trial of the same service in the US. Over 10,000 Subscribers are reported to have signed up for the US service.

Exchange integration for the iPhone has been one of the major weaknesses in the iPhone product. Many business users have been forced to avoid the iPhone in place of other Phone / PDAs because of it. Apple's rapidly working on Exchange support and some of my contacts have seen it in use.

But, are email gateway services really the IT wants users to pick up their mail. I know, I know, it's been going on with Blackberries for years. That doesn't make it a good practice. Security is always a game of The Weakest Link and with everyone signing up for whatever email gateway service, a compromise is just that much more likely. Just because it can be done, doesn't mean its a good idea.

I don't want my paypal, bank interactions, or any other personal email conversations being stored and forwarded by someone else's email gateway service. I'm sure most business would feel the same. But then again, this practice happens regularly. Maybe they don't care, or they just chose to ignore it.

Is this the kind of complacency that my friend Byron Acohido talks about in his upcoming book, Zero Day Threat ? Seems so.

• Microsoft
• Security
• email gateway
• iPhone
• Microsoft Exchange
• Synchronica