IOS6 and Exchange meeting hijacking – calendar issues

Few days ago, when Apple released iOS6 we informed you about IOS6 and Exchange problems:
Exchange ActiveSync problems after upgrading IPhone or IPad to iOS6

After recent release of iOS6 Microsoft noticed increased support calls due to meetings having the owner of the meeting changed – meeting “hijacking”.
Most instances reported to Microsoft to date involve users with delegates who first open a meeting request in Outlook and then act on that same meeting in iOS.

iOS6 take ownership of meetings

Microsoft discussed this issue with Apple and will let as know when problem will be resolved.

Right now Microsoft has soem recommendations to offer a few migitation options:

• Tell users not to take action on calendars on iOS We’re not seeing this particular issue if users don’t take action on their calendar items (for example, accept, delete or change meetings).
• Switch iOS users to POP3/IMAP4 Another option is to switch users over to POP/IMAP connections. This will remove calendar and contacts functionality while allowing users to still use email (though the email may shift to pull from push while using these protocols)
• 3^rd party clients/OWA Moving impacted users over to another email client that is not causing these issue for your organization may help alleviate the pain here. There are a number of other client options (OWA being one of them of course). Numerous clients are available in mobile application stores. We don’t recommend any particular client.
• Block delegates Many of the issues we are seeing involve delegates. An admin can take the less drastic step of using the Allow/Block/Quarantine list to block only users who are delegates, or have a delegate, to minimize the impact here.
• Block iOS 6 devices Exchange server comes with the Allow/Block/Quarantine functionality that enables admins to block any device or user.
• Tell users not to upgrade to iOS 6 or to downgrade their devices – This solution may work as a temporary fix until Apple provides a fix but many users may have already made the decision to update.
• Wait We do not have any information on the timeline of a fix from Apple but if this timeline is short, this may be the easiest course of action. Please contact Apple about any potential fix or timeline for its delivery.
• Microsoft support team has also published a KB article on this issue that you can read here. And we will update this post when a fix is available or we have additional information.

You can find also two more informations about iOS6 and Exchange issues:

Current issues with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and third-party devices

Meeting in Attendee’s Calendar Loses Track of the Meeting Organizer