Apple, Cisco want cyber insurance discounts for joint customers

Apple is working with Cisco to help businesses that primarily use gear from both companies to get a discount on cyber security insurance premiums, Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed.

Sharing a stage with Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins at a Cisco event in Las Vegas, Cook claimed the combination of gear from the two companies was more secure than the use of competing technology, such as the Android mobile operating system made by Alphabet's Google.

"The thinking we share here is that if your enterprise or company is using Cisco and Apple, the combination of these should make that [cyber-security] insurance cost significantly less," Cook said.

"This is something we're going to spend some energy on. You should reap that benefit."

Cisco gave few details about the effort, saying in a company blog post the two companies were "collaborating with insurance industry heavyweights to lead the way in developing the architecture that enables cyber insurance providers to offer more robust policies to our customer".

"We will do this by enabling continuous security monitoring and a measurable reference architecture that includes technologies from Apple and Cisco," it said.

Cisco, a networking company that has increasingly moved into cyber security in recent years, highlighted several other joint efforts with Apple.

It today debuted a new security app for iPhones to give admins "the most granular view" of what is happening on enterprise-owned mobile devices.

The Cisco Security Connector combines security functionality from the company's Umbrella and Clarity services into a single app. It will be released later this year, while a beta program will begin "shortly".

Cook also said the "fast lane" that Cisco had created in 2015 to speed up internet connections for iPhones on Cisco routers and switches has been expanded to Mac computers.

Long known for its consumer devices, Apple has embraced business users in recent years, adding additional security features to its iPhones and iPads. In 2015, Cook said Apple was generating at least US$25 billion a year in revenue selling to businesses.

Apple has also undertaken joint efforts with enterprise software firms IBM and SAP to encourage developers to write business apps for its mobile devices.