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Cisco launches iPhone security app

Cisco Systems' new App Store entry, featuring customized alerts and threat information delivered to the handheld device, targets security professionals.

Elinor Mills Former Staff Writer
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service and the Associated Press.
Elinor Mills

Cisco is offering a free iPhone app that will allow people to get customized alerts on new security threats and other information for safe Web browsing.

The app, which will be available on Friday in the Apple iTunes store, provides information about new malware signatures, bulletins for how to mitigate against threats, ways to see if particular Web sites are compromised, as well as links to podcasts and videos.

The Cisco SIO To Go iPhone app gets its information from the company's Security Intelligence Operations (SIO) system which gathers information in real time from 700,000 sensors located at customer sites, ISPs, and other sites around the world. The data from the disparate sources allows Cisco engineers to do threat correlation to detect Internet attacks and spam campaigns.

The app is designed for professionals and security geeks, not the average consumer, said Michael Weir, Cisco security marketing director.

"I can make it applicable to my needs and the security needs of my [enterprise] network," he said.

The Cisco SIO To Go iPhone app offers information about the safety of particular Web sites. Cisco