On 03/07/2013 12:45 AM, Denis McMahon wrote:
> On Sun, 24 Feb 2013 09:34:31 -0700, GreyCloud wrote:
>
>> Any time they start touting the Cloud storage... don't buy and don't do
>> it. Matter of fact... RUN!
>
> I thought the whole point of cloud storage was to provide all government
> agencies globally with a single point of contact for a warrantless search
> of your complete life.
>
> Or did I miss something?
You missed a few things.
Probably the most important is backup, which few lusers do
despite decades of experience demonstrating its importance.
Depending on which cloud you store stuff in, you not only get
off-site backup but will likely get multiple backups as well.
Second, cracking and looting a home luser's machine is trivial in
maybe 70-85 percent of cases. Storage in the cloud will not
reduce vulnerability of the home machine, but storage in the
cloud is certainly a minor increase in vulnerability (vulnerable
to some extent in a second place, in addition to totally
vulnerable in the first place, for most). Those who keep their
important stuff in the cloud, deleting it from the home machine
and getting it back when needed, have a means to minimize
vulnerability to the amateurs and script kiddies.
Third, while neither the cloud nor the home machine are safe from
the pros, the bigger the cloud grows the greater the difficulty
for the cracker when it comes time to sort and select from
whatever was grabbed when a crack succeeds. There is simply more
stuff they have to sort through.
The only downside is that data once uploaded to the cloud could
be kept forever, or until bit rot sets in. I sort of suspect the
cost of keeping storage disks spinning forever once written to,
and of shifting data to other forms of permanent storage, is
enough to discourage cloud operators for keeping everything forever.
Benefits to the government are incidental, and depend on the
government involved. If the pros decide to target you, they will
likely get what they want, regardless of cloud or home machine or
whatever. Why increase the cost of government (and therefore the
amount of taxes necessary to pay for it) by making government
access to your data inconvenient?
The goal in computer security (for most -- a few with special
requirements excepted) is to make it costly in time, effort, and
hopefully money to crack your machine(s), and thereby reduce the
incentive to target them. Make it difficult enough, and the
nasties will go after someone else. (You don't have to be the
fastest gazelle to escape the lion, just faster than the slowest
gazelle between the lion and you.)
Don't be low-hanging fruit, easily available for the picking.
Cheers!
jim b.
--
UNIX is not user unfriendly; it merely
expects users to be computer-friendly.