"Experts" giving out scare stories about iCloud.

[allancoblu]

Firstly this is not about anything Iv'e read here, I'm actually posting my first thread as I'm hoping to get a sensible view on a situation that is developing in the school in which I work.
Also I have to stress that apart from a 3rd generation iPod I know nothing about Apple products and services (well not much).
Anyway my manager has been on an E-safety course and has come back wanting an outright ban on all Smartphones that can potentially connect to the iCloud via our wireless network.
The reasoning behind this is as follows; the so called local government expert has said that the iCloud is not secure and any photo's, documents and more importantly e-mails that are on your Apple device will make there way to the iCloud and anyone with a bit of expertise (something neither of these two people possess) can easily gain access to.
I've tried in vain to argue that surely the owner of the device can easily decide for themselves what goes into the cloud, but have been told that once the cloud has access to your photos and documents, all of it will go up every time you sync your phone, and every e-mail you send regardless of how many e-mail accounts you have goes up too.
I'm sure that I don't need to ask the question, but please tell me that this is not the case?
Surely the iCloud needs to know the settings of a users 1,2,3 or even 4 different e-mail accounts, especially if they are normally accessed via a web browser and if it's a work account, again it has to know the name of the exchange server that is hosting the email account.
Also when it comes to documents, Apple encrypts them, they are probably safer on Apples servers than they are on our own single Windows 2003 server?
So can someone in the know tell me exactly how you configure the iCloud to access your data and hopefully tell me that not everything goes up whether you want it to or not?
Many thanks!

 

[Comeagain?]

Yes, Apples servers are probably more secure and probably backed up more often then yours. And no, the phone doesn't send "everything" to the cloud. By that logic you shouldn't use cell phones at all, because those go through third party servers as well.

To use iCloud, you just sign in (pr create) an Apple ID (free). Or, if you don't want to, don't sign in, and the phone will never connect to iCloud. Simple as that. Once you have an account set up, you select what you want to associate with the account. Mail, calendars, notes, bookmarks, all of that stuff is optional and can be turned off individually on any device. And no information about the accounts on the phone itself are shared with iCloud.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Sounds like the concerns have nothing to do with devices that "connect to the iCloud via our wireless network". Connectiing via 3G or whatever would yield the same results. He could ban the phones from his "wireless network" but it wouldn't do any good.

I would think that all smartphones are heading toward over-the-air syncing and backup of settings.

Ask him to take a look at Absolute Manage MDM and similar offerings.

 

[allancoblu]

Many thanks for the couple of replies, pretty much what I expected.
Sorry for not replying sooner,I hate seeing people ask questions, get answers and then offer no thanks or further replies.
Just after posting I had to drive to my parents house as there had been no sign of my dad who had recently been widowed, and friends and neighbours were concerned for his well being.
Unfortunately I found that he himself had passed away.
I'm hoping that he is now with my mum and is much happier than he had been.

Thanks again

 

[mscriv]

Just after posting I had to drive to my parents house as there had been no sign of my dad who had recently been widowed, and friends and neighbours were concerned for his well being. Unfortunately I found that he himself had passed away. I'm hoping that he is now with my mum and is much happier than he had been.

Thanks again

Man, so sorry to hear about your loss. Take care and let those around you love on you during this difficult time.

 

[nuckinfutz]

OP sorry for your loss.

The reason why iPhone have had good uptake in corporate environments is because IT can easily create profiles that make setup easy.

I'm betting that a profile could be created that sets iCloud so that it only syncs information that they feel comfortable with.

Here is where you'll find more info.

http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/enterprise/

 

[flatfoot99]

sorry for your loss... sounds like he's with your mom.

 

[grumpyguybill]

Hack.....Hack.....Hack

Firstly this is not about anything Iv'e read here, I'm actually posting my first thread as I'm hoping to get a sensible view on a situation that is developing in the school in which I work.
Also I have to stress that apart from a 3rd generation iPod I know nothing about Apple products and services (well not much).
Anyway my manager has been on an E-safety course and has come back wanting an outright ban on all Smartphones that can potentially connect to the iCloud via our wireless network.
The reasoning behind this is as follows; the so called local government expert has said that the iCloud is not secure and any photo's, documents and more importantly e-mails that are on your Apple device will make there way to the iCloud and anyone with a bit of expertise (something neither of these two people possess) can easily gain access to.
I've tried in vain to argue that surely the owner of the device can easily decide for themselves what goes into the cloud, but have been told that once the cloud has access to your photos and documents, all of it will go up every time you sync your phone, and every e-mail you send regardless of how many e-mail accounts you have goes up too.
I'm sure that I don't need to ask the question, but please tell me that this is not the case?
Surely the iCloud needs to know the settings of a users 1,2,3 or even 4 different e-mail accounts, especially if they are normally accessed via a web browser and if it's a work account, again it has to know the name of the exchange server that is hosting the email account.
Also when it comes to documents, Apple encrypts them, they are probably safer on Apples servers than they are on our own single Windows 2003 server?
So can someone in the know tell me exactly how you configure the iCloud to access your data and hopefully tell me that not everything goes up whether you want it to or not?
Many thanks!

Wow......
If the manager thinks iCloud is the source of a big security issue....he might be advised to remove their entire network from the internet and remove all I/O devices from their system while he's at it. The Big Hack can get you no matter what if he wants to.........

So sorry about your loss.

 

[Ruahrc]

But to play devil's advocate, he may have some valid points.

Apple has not openly disclosed what kinds of specific security measures are (or are not) in place. Did I not read somewhere that the data on the icloud servers is not actually encrypted? Only the transfers are? Or at least that Apple had a "god switch" that they could use to unencrypt/access anyone's data if they chose? These are all routes of vulnerability. The most secure storage is data encrypted with a key only you and you alone hold.

Everybody probably also thought/assumed Sony probably had security measures up on their database of PSN user accounts too... right? right? Same for dropbox, yahoo, etc etc the list goes on and on.

And while the iOS app store is supposed to be monitored and secure and all that, we have seen evidence of malware on that too. So even if you have not allowed iCloud to access/upload stuff from your smartphone, 3rd party apps from the app store on your phone may have nefariously gotten access to it. Note this applies to any smartphone with an app store- Andriod, iOS, whatever.

My point is, if you have sensitive data/information that is critical to keep private, putting it on a cloud and trusting another corporation with its security is usually not the way to go. And depending on the criticality of keeping that data private, keeping it off smartphones altogether may not be a bad idea either. Your manager's stance may be a little extreme, but it is also not without merit.