Today's MDM platforms manage and secure configuration profiles starting at device onboarding. Jamf Pro, for example, focuses strictly on Apple device security and enables IT to create a standard configuration profile for corporate-owned and BYOD iPhones. Additionally, organizations can consider MDM providers, such as Jamf and Kandji, for extra support in managing corporate-owned and BYOD endpoints. Data containerization - separating corporate data from personal data on BYOD units - should be a standard security practice on personally owned devices, giving an MDM platform full governance and security controls over corporate resource access.Ĭontainerization is built into iOS, and Apple User Enrollment offers even clearer separation of work and personal data for BYOD iPhones. It's important to audit the security of all devices that have access to Google Workspace, Slack and other SaaS back-end systems. Still, this shift goes to show the growing power and effectiveness of professionally managed MDM policies and native security features. That doesn't mean IT should ignore this attack vector entirely - there's always the possibility the configuration profile might play a part in some future iOS attack.

Additionally, advancements in email security policies stand guard against emails bearing malicious configuration profiles sent as part of phishing emails.Īs such, many security analysts see the threat of malicious attacks on a configuration profile as nothing more than an inconvenience. Today's MDM systems provision and secure configuration profiles, locking them down from unauthorized users throughout the mobile device lifecycle. Are iPhone configuration profiles a legitimate security risk?Īttacks on configuration profiles gained notoriety before the prevalence of MDM platforms in enterprise organizations today. To decide how configuration profiles should fit into a mobile security strategy, it's important to understand how they fit into the landscape of iOS threats. While configuration profiles are a useful tool, IT administrators might question whether they present some security vulnerabilities for iPhones in the enterprise.

Deleting an iPhone configuration profile removes all the settings, passcodes, apps and data associated with the profile, thus rendering corporate systems, such as email, CRM applications or other back-end business systems, inaccessible to the device. Organizations can create them by using Apple Configurator or a mobile device management ( MDM) platform. In BYOD scenarios, configuration profiles define settings for using devices on corporate networks. An iPhone configuration profile is an XML file that enables users to load settings and permissions onto an Apple device.

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