Apple Partners Downplay Threat Of iPod Touch Hackers

The latest hacking threat, the iJailBreak application (an automated program that allows third-party applications to run on the iPod Touch), received an upgrade on October 14th and to date remains up and running on the Web.

As of last Wednesday, new versions to unlock the iPod Touch and the iPhone found their way on line, with more applications sure to follow. The question for the channel is: How concerned, if at all, should solution providers be following these developments?

For Matt Cohen, co-owner of Tekserve, an Apple-centric solution provider based in New York City, the security risk barely registered. "We've gotten no pushback from customers at all," he says. Cohen takes a more sanguine view of the issue than one might expect. "People are going to try to improve their enjoyment of the device." He says many of his employees are walking around the office with hacked iPhones. Moreover, he says, who is Apple to try and stop people from enjoying a device the way they want to enjoy it?

Concerns were equally low at Wantagh, N.Y.-based Alliance Computer Systems. Asked if he's received any worried calls from customers, company president Peter Mormoris responded, "No, not a one." He admits he's only "vaguely aware" of the hacking stories. "From what I understand it's not a big deal," he says.

"At this point, what are the consequences," laughs John Eaton, president of Eaton and Associates, a San Francisco-based solution provider. "What are they going to do now?" Eaton says while he's aware of the brouhaha the hackings caused in some tech circles, he's not about to break a sweat over potential security issues. "The hackings, to me, are a really fringe thing," he says. "Our clients aren't concerned with it."