Symantec extends VIP platform to the Apple iPad

Symantec is bringing its Verisign Identity Protection (VIP) platform to the Apple iPad.

The application will allow iPad users to access one-time log-in credentials through the Apple tablet, and use accounts with sites and services that support the VIP platform.

Designed to add a layer of protection beyond usernames and passwords, the two-factor authentication platform was among the assets Symantec purchased last year from VeriSign.

The company said that it will offer the tool as a free download through the Apple App Store.

Symantec already offers mobile versions of the VIP tool for the iPhone, but the company said that the iPad version will optimise the software for the tablet's interface as well as the latest version of iOS.

Kerry Loftus, Symantec's senior director of user authentication product management, told V3.co.uk that the company sees the iPad as being as much of a personal computer as it does a mobile device.

"We are definitely seeing that tablet use is becoming a substitute for desktop use, whereas a smartphone goes hand-in-hand with desktop use," said Loftus.

"A lot of our enterprise customers are talking to us about iPad users that are using their tablet as a substitute for the desktop."

The different usage models mean that Symantec has had to take a different approach to providing security for tablets, and Loftus advised enterprises to do the same.

"I think it is important for enterprises to think about the tablet problem almost separate from the smartphone," she said.

"They need to accelerate their efforts thinking about how to support that mobility."

Loftus is hardly alone in that notion. Many in the security space have noted the new challenges posed to IT departments as employees increasingly look to bring personal devices into the enterprise network.