How tough is the iPhone?

If ever there seemed a good reason for entering MYiTablet's iPhone giveaway and maybe winning a Starter Pack complete with case, this might be it.  David Ciccone [Mobility Today] has been pestering poor AT&T employees who have been "fully briefed" on the Apple cellphone, and all twelve told him that the iPhone was "extremely fragile" and that they've been told to heavily push the warranty package since the handset can break by from a 3ft drop.

Now of course this could be partly some semi-devious ploy to make extra money on the warranty – because let's face it, the carriers make a big chunk from insurance – but at the same time it's a believable idea.  It comes at a time when other concerns about the iPhone's safety are being raised, only this time the security of its operating system is under examination.  CNET's Robert Vamosi courted the ire of Apple zealots by criticising the company's reluctance to work with – or acknowledge – external security agencies and their efforts to identify potential backdoors, exploits and holes in software.

Vamosi's concern centres predominantly on the first-adopter crowd who malware authors and hackers will identify as wealthy and having valuable contacts in their address book.  He posits the idea of custom Safari exploits – as found in the beta of the Windows version – targeted at the iPhone's Mac OS and designed to strip out data, media licences and account details.

Lacking Exchange integration, I can't see this first generation of the iPhone being rolled out in great numbers by corporate IT departments, but I'm sure they'll be watching closely to see how the security of Apple's device holds up over the next few months.