Apple Stores iCloud Data With Google (crn.com) 49
An anonymous reader writes: Alphabet's Google has quietly scored a major coup in its campaign to become an enterprise cloud computing powerhouse, landing Apple as a customer for the Google Cloud Platform, multiple sources with knowledge of the matter told CRN this week. Previously, Apple had acknowledge using Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure's rival cloud computing platforms in addition to its own data centers. None of the services would have access to iCloud users' records. "The iCloud information is not at risk of being breached or otherwise observed by the ultimate owners of the platforms it resides on because of the very heavy encryption and partitioning technologies used," commended Chris Green, a tech expert at the consultancy Lewis. CRN has mentioned the agreement between the two companies was done late last year.
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Your post looks suspicious because you work for /.
Maybe he got first post after all. You seem to be in a conflict of interest. I would restrain myself from replying to such posts if I was you ;-)
Re:first post (Score:4, Insightful)
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Replying to undo accidental "overrated" post (please mod it funny :)).
Re:Google + Apple is big alliance (Score:5, Insightful)
The data is encrypted with a key only Apple knows. Maybe in the future it will be encrypted with a key only YOU know- but the point is that Amazon or Google can't get the data.
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If they are only using the could providers servers as storage, probably true, but if they use them to run applications, keys are on memory to be able to read the data and process it.
According to Apple, they can't see your dick pics (Score:2, Informative)
The data is encrypted with a key only Apple knows. Maybe in the future it will be encrypted with a key only YOU know- but the point is that Amazon or Google can't get the data.
In the case of iMessage and PhotoStream, the key is actually one even Apple doesn't know - it's derived from hardware-specific key from your phone, generated with your password/touchID.
So Apple can't see your dick pics and neither can Google (or whoever else they use).
Re: According to Apple, they can't see your dick p (Score:1)
It was not hacked, passwords were phished. Google and Apple accounts. Apparently not rven brute forced- which was the previous theory. If that was true it would mean bad passwords.
Being encrypted with a key Apple knows is unrelated anyway- in ALL these cases, the attackers were ultimately able to authenticate as the owner, at which point Apple and Google gave them access to "their" icloud or gmail dara.
can't encrypt with a key only Apple has (Score:2)
Customer data CAN usefully be encrypted with a key that only the user (via their phone) has. It's encrypted on the phone, then uploaded. That is in fact done for at least some data.
Customers' cloud data can NOT be usefully encrypted with a key only Apple, and not the cloud operator, has access to. Before it's sent back to the customer, it would need to be decrypted. Which would require that the decryption key be on the server- which the cloud operator owns.
In general (though special cases exist), you ca
Apple does not have server hardware (Score:2)
Apple does not have server hardware unless they make so they have a mac osx build that will install on real hardware or in a VM running on non apple hardware. With out needing any workarounds or hacks.
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I like OS X as a desktop operating system... but I've never seen the point of having it on a server, even when Apple sold them.
It's Unix, and who wants a GUI on a Unix server? And without the GUI, why bother with OS X? Heck, for system stuff I'm using the command line more and more even on my Mac laptop.
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Your rant is kind of funny, given that Microsoft has made it clear it's moving away from reliance on the GUI interface with its server offerings. It's all about PowerShell now.
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Get that hook out of your mouth. ;-)
That and, well... You've always been able to do quite a bit with Windows Server editions via the command prompt. They've also generally been able to be configured to push the desktop out over a network without too much trouble for quite a long time. So, people are pretty used to having a GUI. I've played around with Windows as a server and have even used it professionally. More recently, I've had a whole WSUS, Exchange, and AD running at my home. That doesn't exist and wa
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Now I run X2go and I get all that (qbittorrent if you were curious) and way more. I still have access to the console via a handy Konsole window.
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I cheat and use VNC. There are some things you can't do via terminal/remote/SSH. But, there are lots of things that can be. I've settled on VNC and have been using it for a while. You might have been able to push the GUI out (I forget the name of the process) out through SSH for a torrent client. Basically, it forwards the GUI over SSH - buggered if I can recall the name at the moment but lots of apps support it, or so I'm told. I've not bothered with it in a long, long time - having settled on installing a
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Audio is great, video can be a bit choppy, but it's watchable, on a 1.5Mb upstream connection.
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I shall investigate, thanks. One of the reasons that I favor VNC is that it's cross-platform. I think I've looked at X2go in the past - someone else recommended it (maybe WolfRider?) and downloaded it but never got around to installing it. It looks like I'm not getting approval to go to Cuba this week so I'll poke at it over the weekend.
Re: Apple does not have server hardware (Score:2)
Linux is just unusable to the average IT person.
Aircraft suck: they'reentirely unusable to the average driver.
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I'm pretty average and have done a lot of work that falls under the IT heading. In fact, I have zero formal computer education. I've never even taken so much as a basics course nor a relevant programming course. In 1970 (or so) I used an HP 9100, I think it was called, and then didn't touch a computer until the 80s. At that point, I kind of hated computers but I owned my first in about 1981.
I say no formal programming because I must be accurate - it's in my nature. Unfortunately, my memory isn't as good as
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Is that why MS are introducing better CLI support with each version of windows? Or why they're making CLI a requirement for some advanced administration tasks?
A server does not need a GUI, that's just a waste of resources for the 99.9% of its life when noone will be using it. And a server OS is not meant to be used by your average employee, it's meant to be used by a competent sysadmin which it seems your company lacks if it took them 19 weeks to configure RedHat.
There are also plenty of point and click lin
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I have run across a number of cases where all I could get was a CLI due to the very issue I was trying to fix.Try re-initializing the network card on a remote GUI, for example. OOPS. Sure you can use a networked KVM, but now you're buying a bunch of extra hardware to compensate for the GUI's failings. And if the problem is that the network card is babbling on the LAN, good luck cramming a GUI session through the flood.
The OS and it's admins should be able to do anything necessary to fix the server over a se
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I know I am a late to this... but Windows Server 2012 and W2012R2 install Server Core by default. W2016 doesn't even give you the option for a GUI until you have the machine installed and are at a PowerShell prompt. Exchange has been using PowerShell for a lot of its configuration for almost a decade now.
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I like OS X as a desktop operating system... but I've never seen the point of having it on a server, even when Apple sold them.
It's Unix, and who wants a GUI on a Unix server? And without the GUI, why bother with OS X? Heck, for system stuff I'm using the command line more and more even on my Mac laptop.
I love my (virtualized) Linux servers to death, but on the desktop -- yeah it's OS X for me. And it has a very, very decent commandline.
Nowadays, I can just install a Mac and run a giant script that first sets all preferences (with "defaults write com.apple.blahblah"), and then another smaller script that installs all open source software with "brew install" and most commercial stuff with "brew cask install". Love it.
Is it secure? (Score:2)
"The iCloud information is not at risk of being breached or otherwise observed by the ultimate owners of the platforms it resides on because of the very heavy encryption and partitioning technologies used,"
While I have no doubt it is possible to do this, is it really secure?
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"The iCloud information is not at risk of being breached or otherwise observed by the ultimate owners of the platforms it resides on because of the very heavy encryption and partitioning technologies used,"
While I have no doubt it is possible to do this, is it really secure?
Assuming Apple doesn't make any newbie mistakes, it's as secure as the keys used to encrypt it.
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With two helper brands for domestic collection, the links back to the US gov will be even more secure and NSL friendly.
Seems like good strategy. (Score:3)
It appears that Apple is adapting iCloud so that it can use any of the "storage as a service" providers. My guess is that they are on a quest to "partner" with anyone and everyone that rents space on hard drives.
In addition to being able to scale up and down rapidly, it also improves their ability to rapidly abandon any providers that don't play the game according to Apple's whims.
Corporate relationships are weird. (Score:2)
Fear the rise of St. Jobs (Score:2)
Isn't there some prophecy in the iBible about three strikes against St. Jobs and he shall rise again and smite the nonbelievers?