Quite honestly, they don't. And no, they're not legitimate questions because they're based upon faulty knowledge.
There is no logic in this rant...
First, if my questions aren't legitimate, then why are you now responding to them? (That's all I asked for...)
Second, you seem to miss the idea that I already said I have no experience in the mobile space, AND THUS my knowledge/understanding/experience is OBVIOUSLY lacking. So asking for help is NOT faulty. You're just getting pissed because I don't seem to get mobile...
Now that we have that out of the way, let me read your responses below...
You asked if there was a CCC type app available for iOS. You were given the answer.
And I accepted that CCC doesn't exist for mobile...
You asked why not. You were told why not.
I didn't get a good why not response... (I got a "Just because, damn it!")
You continue to debate the merits of an operating system yet have made it clear you don't know much about anything and are basing everything on Mac OSX.
Then why don't you enlighten me...
All operating systems are not the same.
Right.
Back in the day working on military grade Unix, I had to get my head around how security labels affected what even root could, and could not do.
iOS was built from the ground up to be secure. OSX is derived from BSD, a Unix derivative.
And as far as I know, Unix was built to be secure from the ground up. So your point?
Android currently uses a Linux kernel. Word is that Google are pursuing a totally different OS to allow them to tighten down security even more.
Okay.
Smartphones are not desktop computers.
Obviously.
You argue what the harm is of allowing an app like CCC is.
Think about this for a minute.
Alas, now we get to what I was asking about...
Now, while thinking remember that users traditionally have banking apps on their phone, GPS apps, social media apps.
Now imagine I'm a nefarious app taking advantage of having carte blanch access to ask that lovely personnel data. Just like CCC.
That's your big risk #1.
Fair enough, however, a person can have those same things on their computer - except for GPS.
I personally don't do banking online for security reasons, but I certainly could from my Retina. And I could do social media from my laptop. And since I am starting a business, you better damn well believe I have an insane amount of sesnsitive things on my encrypted and very locked down Retina.
So while I agree with the importance to secure a smartphone, it's not like there isn't a need to secure computers as well. (What needs to be secured more? A few GB's of data, or Terabytes of data?)
Probably one of the biggest reason I'm a Mac user is because I believe Apple genuinely cares about securing my data.
I'm glad to hear that they take mobile security seriously as well!
Now extrapolate this out further. A backup is no good if it can't also restore.
I agree, and you are implying that I would not be able to "boot" from an iOS clone if one could be made.
I didn't know that. Now I do!
So now I can read AND write to anywhere. Look at that I've siphoned of all your data, and now I'm reencrypting it and holding it to ransom.
You lost me on the "write" part.
Not being able to boot up from another device or from a clone doesn't logically have anything to do with the ability to write data to your iPhone.
I can boot up from a CD containing Knoppix, but that doesn't mean I can then overwrite my hard-drive with Knoppix, right?
Now, ask yourself this: if iOS is so awful, how come there's never even been any ransomware attacks on users?
I find the workflow of mobile to be strange and foreign at this point.
But then since I have no experience in this area, what else would you expect?
That is a very interesting point about ransomware!
(Okay, so that is good to know, because I am all about privacy and security!)
You seem to be of the belief that not having a CCC type solution is a bad thing.
Having a "siloed" OS is a good thing from a security standpoint. I agree.
But not having a way to backup your iPhones current state is not a good thing.
You imply that you have a Sys Admin, and Unix) background. So certianly you understand why backup and recovery is important. (Although I'm not sure that the concept of a "bootable clone" exists in either the Unix or Linux worlds...)
If as you, and others, have implied before that iOS is *entirely* slioed from apps and data, then I suppose the need for a clone isn't as important.
But to be honest, I am skeptical of that, because no operating system that I know of is read-only. (But, of course, I know nothing of iOS.)
On a side note... If having the ability to create a "clone", and even more so, having the ability to create a "bootable clone" is so dangerous, then why does Apple allow it on macOS?
My Retinas are VERY locked down, although everything is hackable.
And I always run as a regular user.
And I use secure pass-phrases, and obviously my mac and my backup clones are encrypted.
I also use EFI passwords, which makes breaking into my Macs very, very difficult.
So I don't see Carbon Copy Clone (CCC) or my "bootable clones" as any kind of security threat to me or my data. (In fact, if one of my clones fell into the hands of the NSA, I'd be reasonably confident that my data would be safe.)
All of this could be achieve on an iPhone *IF* that is what Apple wanted.
Apparently their vision of how a mobile OS and mobile environment should work is diffeent.
And that's why I came here to get a better undrstanding of things from you gurus! ;-)
It's a very good thing in reality. It means Apple have been successful in crafting their OS.
You're mistaking a flexibility issue with security.
No.
Secure systems, by design, are a PITA to use.
All I am wanting is a secure system that I can clone, so when something gets fubared - which always happens in IT - that I can roll back in time to whent hings worked.
That "want" has brought me Hell's fury in this thread so far. *LOL*
All of you imply that there is no need for a clone, because your data can be backed up, and you just re-install iOS and you are golden.
That seems like an oversimplification to me.
And based on what people are telling me in another thread, there is no way to roll back to a previous iOS.
For instance, on my iPhone 6S Plus with v10.x.y, if something got fubared, then I would have no way to restore my iPhone to it's origin, virgin state because iOS is like up to v13.x.y and apparently Apple no longer "signs" v10.x.y.
(I don't know many computer users, or sys admins, or develoeprs that would be happy with that?!)
Of course, THIS is mobile, so apparently people in this realm see the world differently?!
Sometimes flexibility and security are not synonymous.
As security increases, convenience decreases...
As privacy increases, convenience decreases...
THIS I know!!
You want backups? Use the Apple method.
I'll look into when I have time.
Just seems like a bummer that the more I use my iPhone, in the back of my mind I have to resolve that I can NEVER roll back to the original state when it comes to the OS.
That makes me nervous, because in my years of experience, "newer" is rarely "better"... (At least until they work out all of the kinks, at which point "newer" is now "older"?!) *LOL*
Doesn't make any difference really.
The base fact of the matter is that millions of people using iPhones & iPads trust Apple are doing everything they can to keep their information protected and you seen to feel is still OK to run roughshod over all these protections "just because" you feel it's not right.
Why do you twist things that I say?
I have *never* said that I don't want or support security. Never.
However, anyone that knows anything about security knows that clones/backups and recoveries are a key part of good security.
If you never want or need to get back to current state, and just need to protect your apps and data, then I guess the way Apple does things is okay. But it sure isn't how things have worked my entire life in the computer realm.
And that is why all of this seems foreign to me.
More importantly, this is no sin in asking HOW and WHY things work the way that they do in the iPhone space...