This post was originally published in French only. We translated it in 2026 so the archive reads the same in both languages. Read the original →
It's surprising what the key factor is that drives companies' stock market valuations.
Take the same case: a security flaw in the operating system. RIM takes a hit on the stock market, Apple nothing, and maybe even a gain.
Why am I bringing this up? Because it has a major impact on our work, since BlackBerry users expect their gizmo to be secure. On the other hand, iPhone users expect a cool gadget. That fact has a significant effect on the overall state of security, because if users care about security, the manufacturer will naturally tend to put more time and energy into protecting the gizmos it sells. Conversely, if users only care about how pretty and easy to use their device is, the manufacturer will put more resources there.
On top of that, you have to consider the iron triangle (security, cost and ease of use). If you change one characteristic, it will affect the other two. More security means less ease of use or higher costs. To give credit where credit is due, Apple has made big efforts to harden its iOS, but it's still not its number 1 priority… Considering that Apple doesn't target the enterprise and that its non-enterprise customer base already puts it in a very strong position, only market pressure will bring about a change in attitude. For those who remember, Microsoft was in a sorry state until the release of Windows XP SP2, when there was a major shift in how security was handled within development.