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Apple two-factor security efforts “half-hearted,” says security researcher

Erica Ogg — Thu, 30 May 2013 16:56:30 +0000

In March, Apple was praised for introducing the option of two-factor authentication for AppleIDs. But on Thursday a security researcher noted some glaring weaknesses in what Apple has implemented so far. While Apple users can require a regular password and a four-digit passcode in order to gain access to their devices and accounts protected by an AppleID, this does not cover access to iCloud, according to Vladimir Katalov, CEO of Elcomsoft Software.

On the company’s blog, CrackPassword, Katalov writes of how he and his team were able to access a user’s backups (including photos) and documents, and were able to restore an iCloud backup onto a new Apple device without being asked for the second mode of security, the four-digit passcode, even with two-factor authentication turned on:

In its current implementation, Apple’s two-factor authentication does not prevent anyone from restoring an iOS backup onto a new (not trusted) device. In addition, and this is much more of an issue, Apple’s implementation does not apply to iCloud backups, allowing anyone and everyone knowing the user’s Apple ID and password to download and access information stored in the iCloud.

The Elcomsoft team used their own Phone Password Breaker software to sign into the targeted user’s iCloud account with the Apple ID and password. Then, to look at that data, they say they just used software that can browse and analyze offline iTunes backups.

They were then able to restore an entire backup of the user’s device and iCloud data to a new iPhone without ever being asked for secondary security information — again, even though they say two-factor authentication was turned on.

The one way the unsuspecting user whose account is being targeted would know this was happening is via an automatically generated email from Apple letting them know that their Apple ID was used to sign onto a new device.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on the article’s findings.

Obviously this is concerning for Apple users who assumed far more security from Apple’s recently introduced system. But the weaknesses, as Katalov points out, tend to come at the expense of convenience. Why aren’t you asked for your passcode when setting up a brand new device? Presumably so the purchase of new phones or replacement devices at Apple Stores can happen a faster and with fewer hiccups.

He points out that Apple isn’t promising more than it’s delivering, but concludes the company has much further to go to offer real protection for users from targeted hacking.

Updated at 11:52 a.m. PT with response from Apple.

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Keeping a dual-Mac lifestyle in sync

Mark Crump — Tue, 28 May 2013 16:00:16 +0000

Relationships are a lot of work. You need to make sure you’re compatible, communicate well, and are on the same page for almost everything. Wait, you thought I meant personal relationships? Oh, sorry, I was talking about keeping multiple Macs in sync.

I was gifted a really nice 27-inch monitor a year ago. Connecting that to my 2011 15-inch MacBook Pro essentially turned my laptop into a desktop Mac. Not that unplugging it and bringing it with me is a hassle. It’s getting it to recognize the monitor when I plug it in. I end up having to use GFXCardStatus to force the graphics card into Discrete mode (even if it’s there already) to get it to properly detect the external monitor. I also dual-boot this Mac into Windows 8 to play some games, so that just generates some extra hassles when reconnecting the monitor.

At the same time, I did need a mobile platform. I’m getting a band together, and need a laptop to bring to rehearsals to record with. Plus, I wanted something light if I was leaving the house to write with. I also didn’t want to pay a lot for this muffler, err laptop.

Fortunately, I still had my 2009 13-inch MacBook Pro kicking around. This is the tale of how I manage both laptops. Because everyone has two laptops floating around, right?

The Mac App Store

The Mac App store has really eliminated my “OK, where did I put that serial number?” issues. While software packages like Microsoft Office aren’t there, I’m finding that around 90 percent of what I need is available in the Mac App Store. Pages ($19.99), Things ($49.99) and Evernote (Free) are key to my workflow, so being able to easily reinstall them from the Mac App Store (along with a 5-device license) is a blessing.

Office 365

Sometimes (OK, often), iWork isn’t enough, and I need the full might and power of the Microsoft Office Suite. To make my life a lot easier, I just use Office 365, which gives me access to the Office suite on both OS X and Windows 8. It also comes with 20 GB of SkyDrive space (more on that later).

Usually, I need Office when I’m on a fast roundtrip collaboration with a person who does not have iWork. While Pages does handle Word documents fairly well, I’m more comfortable keeping Word documents in Word. Also, I loathe Numbers and much prefer Excel. My issues with Numbers are lengthy, but it sums it up with that it kinda plays at being a spreadsheet, but doesn’t have nearly the power of Excel. So, it’s just easier to handle those tasks in Excel.

The cloud

Keeping the same programs on multiple devices is one thing. The important part is keeping the data in sync. For that, I rely on a handful of cloud services: iCloud, Dropbox and SkyDrive.

iCloud

iCloud has gotten kind of beaten up in the press lately, and to a certain degree, I admit the service has its good and bad points. So, I’ve separated out the pieces I have problems with (Documents in the Cloud) and instead focus on the parts that work for me (Bookmarks, iMessage, etc.).

The biggest issue I have with Documents in the Cloud is the walled-garden approach. Simply put, a file I start in Byword ($9.99) can’t easily be moved into Pages or Word, without cutting and pasting. I also don’t expect this to change, so I’ve looked for other solutions for document syncing. One problem I’ve run into is completely forgetting what program I even created a file in.

I also use Notes.app quite a bit. Its interface for capturing notes quickly is a little easier than Evernote’s. As an example, I was recently watching a band perform. This band is the same style of music I’m playing, and I took copious notes on their stage manner, song list and the like. I just felt more comfortable doing this in iCloud and Notes. Evernote for me still remains a place to store large bodies of notes with lots of text.

SkyDrive

My affair with SkyDrive started when I needed to edit Office documents on my Windows 8 partition. While Dropbox can handle this, I liked how it integrated natively into Windows 8. Also, it’s nice being able to edit Word documents in Skydrive’s web interface on a machine I might not have Office installed on. While I can use Google Docs for this (and for one spreadsheet, my band’s songlist, I do use Gdocs), I prefer the Office web apps. With my Office 365 subscription, SkyDrive also comes with 20 GB of storage. That also means I can use it to move my GarageBand songs between machines. One conscious decision I’ve made is to only have production-type files on Skydrive. This is where most of my working files reside.

Dropbox

Dropbox takes the place of flash drives for moving my files between computers. If I get a PDF in the mail I want to have on all computers, I put it in Dropbox. One exception to having work files on SkyDrive is most iOS text editors save to Dropbox, so I use that tool for any text files I’m working on. For the most part, these files are notes from meetings, or stories I’m working on that are in very rough draft and I don’t need to worry about niceties like formatting.

Final thoughts

A few months ago, I wrote about how I use Dropbox for some of the iCloud-type storage. Since then, I’ve started using SkyDrive quite a bit, and I like the separation between the digital junk drawer that’s my Dropbox folder, and the more organized, work environment in SkyDrive. While Dropbox would handle this well, the appeal to me is easy editing in a web interface via SkyDrive that I enjoy.

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Apple’s online services struggles continue with GameCenter, iCloud, iTunes outage

Erica Ogg — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:56:35 +0000

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Apple’s cloud-based services are experiencing some issues. On Tuesday morning, some users woke up to find they couldn’t access GameCenter, iTunes, iCloud or create a new Apple ID account. As of this writing, only GameCenter and Apple ID are continuing to experience issues; the rest appear to have been fixed, according to Apple’s systems status dashboard:

The outage began just after 4 a.m. PT on Tuesday. Apple is only saying that “some users” were affected, but it’s not clear how many people that actually means. I live in the northeast and I didn’t experience a total outage of services, but downloading apps from the iTunes Store this morning took about four minutes longer than usual — which is to say, they usually take about 15 seconds to download. 9to5Mac gathered tweets from users in various countries who seem to have experienced some problems.

This particular outage is the second multi-hour problem Apple’s online services have experienced in the last two weeks. Earlier this month iMessage, a far more regularly used and popular service than GameCenter, suffered a five-hour outage.

Update: Apple’s system status dashboard shows that as of 10:28 a.m. PT all services are back online.

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Cloud and data first-quarter 2013: analysis and outlook

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 06:55:36 +0000

Cloud computing is finally starting to add value to business, as those in charge of cloud within enterprises are moving from talking to doing. That much was very evident in the first quarter of 2013.

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Apple does the two-step: new layer of security added to Apple ID, iCloud

Erica Ogg — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 19:57:56 +0000

Apple is giving its users more security over their Apple accounts and remotely stored data with a new option of two-step security authentication. Users can add two forms of verification on their Apple ID — the identity used to sign into iTunes, the App Store, FaceTime, iMessage and more — and their iCloud account.

Apple updated its two-step verification FAQ page on Thursday. By turning it on, users will have to enter a four-digit passcode in addition to their Apple ID or iCloud password. Apple supplies the verification passcode, and it can be saved to each device that is used regularly. The four-digit passcode will replace the need for a security question, according to Apple’s documentation.

Considering how widely the Apple ID is used across a host of Apple services and devices, it’s somewhat surprising this wasn’t previously an option for Apple users. Apple’s account security procedures were found to have several cracks in them in light of the awful hacking attack on Wired writer Mat Honan last summer. His personal accounts with Google, Amazon and Apple were broken into by a hacker who played the companies’ security measures off of each other.

At the time, Apple suspended the ability to let users reset their Apple IDs over the phone with an account representative. Two-step verification looks to be the company closing the loop on its earlier promise to improve its security measures.

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A future iWatch could test Apple’s cloud chops

Erica Ogg — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 21:45:39 +0000

It seems rather clear, based on multiple reports, that Apple is actively studying how to get on the wearable computing train with an iOS-based smart watch. Now that we’re pretty sure it exists, the debate turns to what it might do: it will probably run iOS, will do some health-monitoring basics, and let you accept or decline phone calls with caller ID.

But this is likely just what the earliest iteration of such a device could do. Apple may start small, but it tends to think pretty big: after all, it launched the iPhone without third-party apps while internally debating whether or not Apple should offer developers access to the phone — and that worked out pretty well. It’s not a stretch to assume Apple would want to offer access to its most important basic services — from FaceTime and iMessage to Notes, Reminders and notifications — to any wearable device, like it has to the iPhone, iPad and Mac.

And it’s at this point that iWatch could really stretch what Apple is capable of delivering as far as internet services. Few doubt that Apple will make a really beautiful piece of hardware. But a future version of an iWatch could, like MobileMe did in 2008 and like Apple Maps did last fall, further reinforce the notion that Apple is still very weak when it comes to implementing web-based services.

However, the promise of an iWatch connected to the cloud could finally push Apple to get its web-based act together.

The promise of Siri

The dream of an iWatch is to (eventually) do many of the things we rely on our mobile devices for, but on a small computer resting on our wrists: browse the web, get mapping directions, send text messages, and in the case of the iPhone, use alternate interaction and communication methods, like a video call on FaceTime or voice-controlled Siri to get tasks done.

Siri, in particular, seems especially ideal for a device that will likely have pretty small display and no hardware buttons. Initially this may be unnecessary if you’re simply using the watch for checking your heart rate or tapping to answer a call. But when an iWatch becomes more capable, voice control might be the quickest way to add something to your calendar or even send a text message. Siri’s going to have to get a lot better for that to be a selling point for an iWatch someday, of course.

In my personal experience, Siri is one of those “nice to have” features but it doesn’t play into my use of my iPhone or iPad on any kind of regular basis. This is mostly because it’s just slow. I love the idea of dictating a text message when I’m driving; the reality is that by the time Siri understands what I actually want it to do, sometimes it takes much longer than it should. This is somewhat understandable because the service is still technically in beta. (But that brings up a whole other point of why a service Apple has been actively advertising as a key iOS feature is still in beta nearly 17 months later.)

iWatch and the cloud

And then there’s the general reliability of Apple’s cloud-based services. iCloud, which is Apple’s solution for keeping users’ content accessible from different Apple devices, is no stranger to outages; there was a half-day episode just last week that took down iCloud backup, Photo Stream and Documents in the cloud for some users.

But its other internet-based services that also operate in the cloud (i.e. not iCloud) aren’t always reliable either. Siri, iMessage, FaceTime, Maps and GameCenter are all services that have gone offline at one point or another or experienced major usage issues. An iWatch could add millions of more access points for these services at the same time that Apple will presumably be growing its user base through the sale of iPhones, iPads and other devices too.

Even if the iWatch does arrive before Christmas 2013, as some outlets have reported, it doesn’t appear like there will be many of Apple’s cloud-based services included right away. So Apple has some time to get there.

But an iWatch — if and when it arrives, and if and when it is integrated with Apple’s cloud services — could either help Apple’s internet services teams shine or further tarnish their reputation. Google Glass may be dorky, but no one worries about whether or not Google will be able to deliver useful and compelling web services to its wearable computer.

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iCloud had a big hiccup this morning, several services still experiencing problems

Erica Ogg — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:11:29 +0000

If iCloud has been acting up for you today, know that it’s not just you. At least three iCloud-based services are currently experiencing problems, according to Apple’s own system status page on Thursday morning. The current issues extend to Documents in the Cloud, Photo Stream — the service that syncs photos across Apple devices — and iCloud backup.

The outage has been going on for seven hours. As of this posting, the iCloud hiccup is affecting three percent of users, according to Apple’s status report. But earlier reports Thursday indicate iCloud had an even bigger issue.

Anyone having problems with iCloud mail ?—
Krzysztof Zabłocki (@merowing_) February 28, 2013

9to5Mac took a screenshot of Apple’s system status page about two hours earlier, which showed that there were issues with all iCloud services, from Mail to Calendar, Find My iPhone, iTunes Match, account sign-in and more. That was said to affect more than one in 10 iCloud customers.

Apple’s cloud service has taken off pretty quickly: it opened in October 2011, and as of the beginning of 2013 had 250 million users. But Apple’s struggled at times to keep iCloud running smoothly as more users signed up and as the company has integrated iCloud with more of its software.

Update: Apple said the outage was resolved at 11:45 a.m. PT.

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When iCloud isn’t enough: balancing other cloud storage options

Mark Crump — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 20:00:07 +0000

Rene Ritchie’s excellent article on iCloud and Dropbox has forced me to examine how I use iCloud and other cloud storage. When iCloud launched in 2011, I had hopes it would be a single-source solution, but over the years it’s become apparent to me that for my uses, no single cloud-based storage fulfills all my needs. Instead, I rely on a few different solutions based on the strengths of each platform.

Here’s what I use for storing documents related to my freelance business, as well as the voluminous amount of research data for my hobbies.

iCloud

iCloud’s biggest limitation is the app sandboxing model. By that, I mean, a document stored in Pages can only be accessed in the Pages app on iOS and OS X. While I can “Open in” another app on iOS, that creates a separate copy; changes made to that copy aren’t reflected back in the Pages’s version.

I’ve made my peace with this.

The bulk of my freelance and personal writing is done in Pages ($19.99) and Numbers ($19.99). I have found these two apps sync the best, with the fewest formatting issues. Oddly, I have an Excel document with graphics that opens fine in Numbers for iOS, but QuickOffice and OfficeHD do not display it properly on my iPad. My day job files need to stay on my company-supplied laptop, so I’m not as worried about keeping those files in sync.

I’ve also made a decision to focus on Pages/iCloud for my writing because I don’t have to worry too much about a third-party developer either ceasing support, or worse, having the app pulled from the App Store. For writing apps, it’s unlikely they’ll get pulled, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. I figure if Apple were to drop iCloud/Pages, I’d likely have bigger problems. That said, I do routinely back up my Mobile Documents folder so I can access them if something bad happens to iCloud.

Most importantly, other than some initial growing pains when iCloud was launched, I haven’t had any memorable issues in the last year or so. I open the iWork app and it automatically downloads new or updated files. I have yet to see that completely seamless action with other third-party storage options.

Dropbox

My Dropbox usage can be be simply summed up with this: any document that the sandbox model flatly doesn’t work with, goes into Dropbox. I’m also a musician, so I have several gigs worth worth of sheet music, scanned music magazines (that I’ve scanned myself) and other reference files. These documents need to be read on either my iPhone, iPad, Mac, PC or Android device. Obviously for my cross-platform needs, Apple’s sandboxing won’t work.

I also have crucial folders from my Documents folder moved to my Dropbox folder. This way, I can access them remotely as well as have another backup if they are deleted (I use CrashPlan for my online backup). Dropbox’s ability to restore files has come in quite handy.

So, what would it take for me to forgo iCloud and just use Dropbox?

Better Office-type apps, for the most part. For my uses, Pages remains the best word processor on iOS. I’ve had just enough “hmm, that didn’t work the way I thought it would” moments with QuickOffice and OfficeHD. Sometimes it didn’t refresh the Dropbox folder fully, or the document open with the formatting a mess. While these overall percentage this occurs is small, I don’t want to risk it.

What the future could hold

The biggest change that could happen to my workflow is if Microsoft ever releases Office for iOS. This will likely result in yet another cloud service (Microsoft’s Skydrive), I’m OK with this. SkyDrive works similar to Dropbox where I can get file level access if I need to.

What I expect to remain unchanged is that a single-source of cloud storage will likely never be possible for my uses.

I can live with that.

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Fruux’s cross-platform iCloud rival gets team-friendly

David Meyer — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:00:14 +0000

Fruux’s cross-platform contact and calendar sync service makes a lot of sense for teams, what with the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend and so on, but it’s not really had proper support for that until now. But today, almost a year after the German company told us it would introduce such support to its iCloud rival, here it is.

With Fruux‘s new version, teams can jointly manage address books, calendars and to-do lists, with supported platforms including iOS, Mac OS X, Windows, Android, Linux and BlackBerry. The service also includes a team-management web interface and scheduling support – if a meeting is created in iCal, for example, team members will get requests to find out about availability.

Compared with Fruux Pro, which includes unlimited storage, contacts, calendars and tasks, Fruux Team also adds dedicated support.

There is one big gap in Fruux’s support: Microsoft Outlook. Fruux uses the open CardDAV and CalDAV protocols, and Outlook famously uses the proprietary and license-fee-bearing Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) instead.

However, after Google recently said it was dropping EAS support for Gmail on Windows Phone, Microsoft was sent scrambling for a fix, and that solution seems to include the integration of CalDAV and CardDAV support into Windows Phone.

“That’s great for us,” said Fruux CEO Dominik Tobschall, who noted that this probably meant Outlook would get CardDAV and CalDAV support sooner rather than later.

Team support is a major shift for Fruux, taking the service from a mostly personal syncing tool to one explicitly tailored for teams. Clearly aimed at business users, Fruux Team costs €4 ($5.45) per user per month.

The company is making money elsewhere, though. Tobschall told me that the service is being resold in volume by ISP partners and also being integrated as a white-label sync feature into third-party software (an example here might be a CRM application). However, he was loath to name names.

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With 250M users, Apple plans to invest much more in iCloud and other services

Erica Ogg — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:59:42 +0000

Amid all the talk of hardware sales and profits Wednesday, Apple’s “strategy for the next decade” was mostly overshadowed during the company’s earnings report. But Apple’s iCloud is is growing rapidly and the company is continuing to pour a significant amount of money into its future.

On Wednesday, Apple revealed that it’s signed up 250 million users of its consumer cloud service in its first 15 months. That’s up from 190 million users announced during the previous quarter — Apple added more new users to iCloud (60 million) between October and December, than it sold iPhones (about 48 million). Whether everyone knows how to use iCloud and understands exactly what it does is mostly up in the air. But the iCloud is critical to Apple’s future: it handles more than a dozen core services for Apple devices, from email, Reminders, photo syncing, Documents in the Cloud, iTunes Match and much more.

Apple’s problems with its services are well-known. But CEO Tim Cook did his best to talk up their successes. He dropped a few numbers about the usage of these services across Apple’s iPad, iPhone, iPod and Mac lines:

More than 2 billion iMessages sent per day
6 billion notifications sent per day
GameCenter has more than 200 million users
“Usage in maps is significantly higher than it was prior to iOS 6.” (Is he trying to say Apple Maps is more popular than Google Maps ever was? Seems hard to believe.)

Cook added that he “felt fantastic about how we’re doing” with these services.

That may come as a surprise to users affected by outages. But it’s a good sign that the company is also planning to build out capacity for these services. Apple said it would spend a rather astounding $10 billion in capital expenditures in 2013. Besides retail stores and manufacturing equipment, CFO Peter Oppenheimer said part of that spending would go toward “adding to our datacenter capabilities” to support the company’s online services: that means iCloud — which Apple built its $1 billion datacenter in North Carolina to handle — and also Apple’s current, and possibly future, software capabilities.

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