Looking at the iPad from a security standpoint......

[BruiserBear]

I'm not super knowledgeable about such things, but would the Safari browser on the iPad be considered among the most secure environments for surfing the web around?

I know I've heard things like that said about the iPhone browser before, and I'd assume it's the same for the iPad, but what makes them so secure?

I really do like that aspect of these devices. The fact that they are such closed environments, I know there is so much less risk and worry about various internet viruses and spyware.

 

[Michael CM1]

Yes, but maybe not why you think. If malware tries to hit you on an iPad or iPhone, its first problem is it will likely not be written to specifically hit Safari. After that, it won't specifically be for the iPhone OS, much less even Mac OS.

But what I read somewhere recently is the non-multitasking of the iPhone and iPad makes the devices MUCH less susceptible to attacks. A tiny software application can't open in the background without you knowing if there is no background in which to run. It's kind of like avoiding T-bone crashes on a highway by removing all the intersections.

Surely evildoers -- who doesn't love that word? -- will work on attacking Mobile Safari. But from what I understand, it's much much more difficult.

 

[yotd]

Graham Lee had an insightful article about this

 

[kAoTiX]

It's for the simple reason that the iPhone/iPod/iPad doesn't allow the user to store anything on the device without it going through iTunes.
Quite simply, the browser cannot store anything (such as an executable file) on the device due to its restrictions.

The only way around this is for someone to exploit Safari on the iPad which would be similar to jailbreaking, where this would open up the device for unsigned code and other things to take place.

This is one of the reasons Apple has been so successfull in having such a secure platform since the start of the iPhone. To my knowledge there isn't a single virus, worm or similar that can harm an iPhone. (Not talking jailbreaking at all here)