As we all know the cloud is a computing system that allows the user to store and access data and programs over the internet. So its an example of disruptive innovation as our generation has trade the classic hard drive to the trending cloud. However, is all your personal data properly secure? Is there a possibility that that data can get lost in the internet? I myself have never used the Cloud and I would want to know if all my personal information can be easily accessed by a foreign user. Remember once it on the the internet it is there for life. Even America’s most beloved celebrities privacy was invaded and not by the typical paparazzi. At least 26 celebrities ,that used the Cloud, personal account were hacked into and their private photos were leaked on the internet.
Fortunately, reports say the Apple’s version of the Cloud was not exactly hacked. In reality these hackers were able to access victims personal accounts by manually logging into them with the users own password/username and answering the security questions. Nowadays most website accounts will request users to specifically use different characters for their login password so they will not be exactly the same as other user’s passwords or too easy to guess by hackers. These password requirements include to at least have eight total characters or more, one number, uppercase and lowercase letters. Apple and many other online companies have soon updated their password security systems by incorporating encryption. Encryption possess algorithms that completely encrypt all personal data before it is sent to the Cloud and can only be accessed by the encryption key. Without that key hackers would need complicated software systems and several constant years just to access the first wall of the security system. Users that are under governmental protection are also equipped with nCrypted Cloud that protects national security information.
Source: https://systemsandsoftware.com/5-safety-concerns-with-cloud-data-storage-answered/
I like this article because it talks about the problem we are facing right now which is the security relate to privacy. I use a lot a type of cloud disk called “Baidu Cloud” to keep a lot of information or materials I want, like some movies and some books. Basically is other people share with me and then I add to my own cloud disk to keep them. Kind of different than the idea you mentioned which is that hackers steal or attach our data, I think the main problem with my security of my document is relate to the owner of the “cloud disk” which is Baidu itself. You never know when they will use the movies or books you have in the cloud disk for business using and then sell to others. And sometimes Baidu can see through all the information in my disk and once there are some sensitive words have been contained, they may delate all the ducuments I have and then block my whole account. They do the everything to every customer of their product which is to check all the information we have and then clean the one they think is necessary. So to me, I am not really afraid about the hackers but instead the companies who own the technology will be a much serious problem which can see and control what the users have. It is kind of scary because later on in the future, we will only have the thing that companies allow us to see which may be the opposite site of the truth.
I will be honest and say that I do not really trust the cloud, and I have found that this sentiment is shared with many of my peers. It feels as though your information is both literally and figuratively going up in the air. Yes, privacy does not feel like a promise on the cloud. And the ability for other people to access my data within the cloud seems like a given. But these are just personal sentiments. I often feel as though no password is long enough to keep people out of one’s data if they really want to access it. But the portion of class where we discussed password lengths and how easy they are to crack was slightly reassuring. That being said, I am often surprised that most website only require 6 or 8 characters in their passwords if passwords more then 10 characters are harder to crack. It makes me realize how much responsibility lays in the users hands to protect their data. In Net Neutrality all data is treated the same. So does that mean that all data should be protected with the same vigor too?
Really interesting piece. I think that there is a lot of questions out there not only regarding the security of the cloud, but also who really has access to the information that we put there. There are some reports that claim Apple organizes leaks in cloud information to the government when investigating suspicious persons or enemies of State. I am wondering if this is a compromise to our right to security and privacy, two points that we have recently covered in IST 110. This article by Cloudwords goes into explain that we are not the only ones who have access to our cloud information, and I can’t help but agree. Perhaps the cloud is secure from hackers, but it may not be secure from those in power in order to monitor our movements online.
https://www.cloudwards.net/who-has-access-to-your-personal-cloud-storage/