At an event sponsored by Cisco in Las Vegas, Apple CEO Tim Cook made public a partnership between the two tech sector giants that will make available cyber security insurance at discount rates.
The argument made by Cook, as reported by Reuters, is that companies using Cisco and Apple products together will be less vulnerable to cyber attacks and thus the cost of insuring such businesses will be less. Cook pledged that the partnership was a new venture that “… we’re going to spend some energy on. You should reap that benefit.” He went to stress how sophisticated hacking was becoming and that other platforms were not able to keep up with the rising threat of cyber attacks.
Apple and Cisco have been collaborating in several other areas in recent years. The announcement came only one week after Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins proclaimed the company’s “next era” was at hand with the rollout of its new artificial intelligent (AI) network products.
Cook noted that part of the collaboration with Cisco was to bring “Apple’s legendary ease-of-use and simplicity” to the cyber security sector. It was also announced that an already established partnership in high-speed mobile Internet between Cisco and Apple was being expanded to include Mac computers.
The partnership fits in with Cisco’s move away from legacy technology and into cutting-edge areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud-based security. Robbins is quoted as saying: “In my 20 years at Cisco, I have never been more excited about our innovation than I am today.”
For Apple, the new joint venture fits into its recent forays into the business market, as opposed to the personal consumer market that’s long been its prime focus. Cook noted that in 2015 Apple was bringing in over $25 billion a year in revenue in its business market and, along with Cisco, has partnership deals with IBM and SAP.
