Yes, PhoneFactor supports iPhones too

Posted  July 14, 2007 By Steve

I’ve been getting questions about Apple’s amazing new iPhone lately. People are asking me if PhoneFactor works with iPhones.

The answer, of course, is yes: PhoneFactor works with any phone, and in particular, doesn’t need any software to be installed on the phone. As long as it has push-buttons (or in the case of the iPhone, little pictures of buttons), you’re set. About the only phones that PhoneFactor won’t support are antique rotary phones!

The reason behind the questions is that the iPhone isn’t exactly an open development platform, so basically no other phone-based two-factor solution works with it. End users may not even notice this, but if you’re an IT person trying to find a two-factor solution, it really has to work for everyone or it’s worthless. You can’t exactly say, two-factor is required for everyone except those with phones that can’t run the two-factor software. That’s no way to do security.

PhoneFactor is different by design: it simply places a call to the user’s phone. She answers and presses # and hangs up. That works for any phone.

So, for those of you who wanted an iPhone but were concerned about PhoneFactor compatibility, fear not. You’re just as secure with your iPhone as with any other phone.