I was having an interesting conversation with one of my sons about the hype surrounding the cloud. We were musing on the constant chatter about how the IT industry is really pushing the idea of cloud based systems. Of course we also had a chuckle about how the IT industry convinced everyone that aeroplanes would fall out of the sky with the advent of year 2000. Great work if you can get it!
So, it's no wonder the IT industry is considered with some suspicion. Just consider all of the different IT projects that have cost millions and then been of little benefit. The most recent example is of course, the Queensland Health débâcle.
It was interesting to read the article by Asher Moses (Fairfax Group) Apple cloud burst: how hacker wiped Mat's 'life' 6th August, 2012. I'm not saying that we should not use cloud based services, I'm saying that you should not totally outsource everything to a third party. We have to accept some responsibility for the preservation of our own data. I'm a big fan of Google Apps (and use the professional business edition), but I would not rely on Google for everything that I do.
During our discussion both of us could not understand why people would trust third parties to manage "mission critical" applications and data. I know that the IT gurus will tell you that you can access your data from anywhere with Cloud based applications and services. That may be true, but there is nothing to stop you accessing your data on your personal computer or server. There are a number of technologies available from many companies that allow remote access. Microsoft, Citrix, XP Unlimited and Thinsoft all offer solutions to allow you to log-in remotely. If all you need is to access data then you can use SQL based database engines (Microsoft SQL, Oracle, MYSQL, Postgres, Firebird and so on.
Some of the software I develop uses a Data Server component developed by Soft Velocity named the Clarion IP Data Server. It's fast, works in most flavours of the Microsoft Operating Systems and just requires a broadband internet connection to be effective. So, you can create your own "cloud". Because that's all the "cloud" is. Someone's computer, somewhere else, hosting your data and maybe your applications. Are you confident that they'll care as much about your data and business as you do?
Back to the Asher Moses article. They key is that social engineering was used in this instance. But have you ever wondered how secure your passwords are?
I had a client who had forgotten his Windows 7 password. Stuck? Well yes, until I came across this handy little tool called Ophcrack which found the users and passwords within a second. I haven't tested its limitations yet, but apparently your password is only safe if it's more than 14 characters!
So, wrapping it up; think carefully about what risks you're willing to take with your applications and data, make informed decisions, backup, backup and oh yes, backup.
If you wouldn't give a stranger who knocked on your door, information and assets, why do it on-line without some careful thought.
