Local security
Jonathan
Dwight Arthur
Hi, Jonathan.
In general, MLO data is not encrypted. When you use MLO cloud sync, the data is encrypted while in transit from your device to the cloud, and while in transit from the cloud back to your device. This encryption is because MLO Cloud Sync uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or maybe its successor, Transport Layer Security (TLS). SSL or TLS are very respectable but are not unbreakable. You can learn more about them at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security. Are they adequate? The answer depends on how much security you need, and from whom. If you are trying to keep something secret from the US National Security Agency, then it’s not adequate. If you want to keep your coworkers from eavesdropping and getting a copy of your project plans, this is probably more than adequate.
The cloud sync database itself is stored inside of the cloud computing service known as Amazon Web Services, which is a well respected provider of cloud computing. The database is not encrypted but it is protected by AWS’s standard login security. There are applications that are much more sensitive than MLO running on AWS. Again, the question of adequacy depends on what security you need. If I had a project plan that had a reasonable chance of bankrupting Amazon Corporation, and Amazon knew about it, I would not trust MLO cloud security to keep it secret, If I was worried about my family members or coworkers, I would not be concerned about the cloud storage.
The weakest link is your computer. The MLO profile as it sits on Windows is not clear text but it’s not encrypted either. If someone gets a copy of your profile and does not know what it is, dumping out the contents will not reveal anything. However, I would guess that a reasonably skilled hacker with a lot of time or some good tools could figure out your projects from a copy of your file. Even worse, if they manage to figure out that the file belongs to MLO (not too challenging to do) anyone can get a free copy of MLO and use it to print out all of your tasks and projects. So the question is. Who would be able to get a copy of your file if you have a good password on your user ID. Answer: anyone who knows the password on your userid. Also, if your pc is on a corporate network, then the system administrators of your network. Or, if your PC is shared among several family members, then anyone who knows the Admin password, which probably means any smart teenaged children in your family. Also, as you mention, backups are a concern: Anyone who can restore your MLO profile to their own computer from your backup can just get a free copy of MLO and look at your whole profile.
There may be solutions where you can encrypt certain files such as your MLO profile, and then arrange for the MLO program to see a decrypted image of the file. I have no knowledge of such solutions so I cannot comment on their feasibility or their adequacy, however, I could note that if the file itself is protected by encryption, then any backups would presumably be encrypted as well.
You mention systems that would make encrypted backups. I believe that this is feasible, however it would not do anything to mitigate the risk of someone accessing your computer to obtain a copy of the profile. If you believe that there is no significant risk of someone breaching your compute itself, and no one but you would be taking backups, but you believe there’s a risk of someone obtaining copies of backups after they are made, then an encrypted backup would be a solution. This sounds to me like it would probably not be effective, it would be like having strong locks on all the windows but leaving the front door open.
The bottom line for me is that there are a number of things that I would not put into MLO, including my date of birth and my social security number, my planned gifts for my wife’s birthday, the account numbers and passwords for my bank accounts and insurance accounts. I keep that stuff in a password manager (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Password_manager) and when needed I put a link into MLO pointing to the relevant record in the password manager. I believe that MLO security is adequate for non-sensitive information but not adequate for sensitive information. I should note that there are very few applications and systems available today that I consider adequate for sensitive information, and MLO’s security is in my opinion equal to or better than the majority of all productivity apps, most of which I consider inadequate. I do not believe that there has been any announcement or suggestion that MLO will be enhanced in the near future to provide radically better security. From the other direction, there have recently been a number of user requests for a web interface to allow MLO users to view, change and create tasks, this would be a secured public interface to the cloud database. In my view if the MLO developers build such a thing it will effectively lower the level of security available for your data.
-Dwight
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Jonathan
There may be solutions where you can encrypt certain files such as your MLO profile, and then arrange for the MLO program to see a decrypted image of the file. I have no knowledge of such solutions so I cannot comment on their feasibility or their adequacy, however, I could note that if the file itself is protected by encryption, then any backups would presumably be encrypted as well.
Anyone who does have a recommendation about this/
disadventages about using one of the encryption software or maybe other suggestens?
or should I not trust the system for that purpose?
My wish is to make sure that nobody but myself and poeple who know the password (both the ID password or the entry password) will have access
MLO is amazing
This forum is very helpful as well and I want to thank you one more time,
Dwight
all
tnks
Jonathan
There may be solutions where you can encrypt certain files such as your MLO profile, and then arrange for the MLO program to see a decrypted image of the file. I have no knowledge of such solutions so I cannot comment on their feasibility or their adequacy, however, I could note that if the file itself is protected by encryption, then any backups would presumably be encrypted as well.
You mention systems that would make encrypted backups. I believe that this is feasible, however it would not do anything to mitigate the risk of someone accessing your computer to obtain a copy of the profile. If you believe that there is no significant risk of someone breaching your compute itself, and no one but you would be taking backups, but you believe there’s a risk of someone obtaining copies of backups after they are made, then an encrypted backup would be a solution. This sounds to me like it would probably not be effective, it would be like having strong locks on all the windows but leaving the front door open.
בתאריך יום שני, 6 ביולי 2015 בשעה 07:36:39 UTC+3, מאת Dwight Arthur:
Hi, Jonathan.
Dwight Arthur
See comments below
From: mylifeo...@googlegroups.com [mailto:mylifeo...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Jonathan
Sent: Monday, July 06, 2015 7:05 PM
To: mylifeo...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [MLO] Local security
Dwight, thank you for a clear and helpful comment.
The MLO profile as it sits on Windows is not clear text but it’s not encrypted either
when you say "profile" - do you mean one single file of MLO, or are you talking about MLO`s application that seats on my computer in jeneral
and also - how can one get to the un-clear text ?
I am talking about the “one single file of MLO.” – if you use file>open you will see a list of your available profile files, it’s anything ending in “.ml” – you can look at the raw contents of any file by using any file dump utility, the easiest was for someone new is to open the file in the Notepad utility. Caution: if you do anything to modify or save the file it will probably damage it.
If someone gets a copy of your profile and does not know what it is, dumping out the contents will not reveal anything
how can a person get a copy?
you said "anyone who knows my userID", but why whould anyone will have that unless i want him to?...
I`m not following you here
I suppose that what I am trying to say is this: there are two aspects of security in this discussion: (1) preventing anyone from seeing your data, and (2) making your data useless to anyone who does succeed in seeing it. To say it a different way (1) access controls and (2) encryption. You are suggesting that your access controls are adequate. Perhaps they are, but as a general rule a determined attacker can usually defeat access controls. I’m not going to try to provide any tutorial on how access controls can be defeated, I just want to make the point that if all you have to protect your data are access controls, then if someone wants you data badly enough they will succeed in getting it. See http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jun/04/us-government-massive-data-breach-employee-records-security-clearances
if they manage to figure out that the file belongs to MLO (not too challenging to do) anyone can get a free copy of MLO and use it to print out all of your tasks and projects
again, how is that possible?
is I have a local password as well? (-->tools-->options-->password protection)
Sorry, I had forgotten about that password. My mistake. I forgot about it because I have a low opinion of passwords, however, a profile protected by a password like this is clearly better protected than one without the password. It would be enough to discourage a casual snoop from getting your data. If someone wants your data badly enough, there is usually a way of cracking your password. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Password_cracking
There may be solutions where you can encrypt certain files such as your MLO profile, and then arrange for the MLO program to see a decrypted image of the file. I have no knowledge of such solutions so I cannot comment on their feasibility or their adequacy, however, I could note that if the file itself is protected by encryption, then any backups would presumably be encrypted as well.
Anyone who does have a recommendation about this/
disadventages about using one of the encryption software or maybe other suggestens?
or should I not trust the system for that purpose?
My wish is to make sure that nobody but myself and poeple who know the password (both the ID password or the entry password) will have access
You have mentioned several times that what you want to protect is your profile data. In order to do a proper security analysis you would also need to discuss what you want to protect it _from._ What makes you think that anyone would want to see your task list? Does it contain passwords to other valuable assets? Are there competitive issues? Is it just a matter of personal privacy? From this you can consider potential attackers. How many are there? How much time and money do you think they would be willing to invest in gaining access to your information. If it is one curious individual who is just being nosy and who does not have a lot of spare time or money, the password may be adequate. If you are working on a project that involves massive economic value and you have well-financed agents trying to uncover your plans, well, you need something way beyond what MLO can do. If you have the password to your bank account, as I said earlier, I would suggest using an encrypted password management system.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mylifeorganized/d7830168-58db-4a60-8aa1-e00c6edafc9e%40googlegroups.com.
