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Author Topic: Cloud-storage - safe & secure? Consider Wuala (it's encrypted as well).  (Read 2132 times)
IainB
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« on: April 28, 2012, 11:04:32 AM »
One issue that seems to persist in discussions in the DC Forum relating to aspects of cloud-storage is the safety/security of your data whilst it is in cloud-storage.
These discussions sometimes referred to Wuala, which has been discussed quite a bit on the DC forum, but seems to have been mainly "in passing".
I found some interesting links on this post: SkyDrive storage space land grab for grandfathers
One of them was in reference to Wuala.

So, today I followed the link in sciencetext and took a look at the Wuala site: Wuala - FREE 6Gb offer.

And I watched the simple Wuala - Promo Video
It's about a guy (John) who is concerned about his data security, after being bitten. (Maybe his data was on dotcom, or something, and he lost it all.)
Wuala looks like it is good tech and encrypted as well.

More choices!     smiley
« Last Edit: April 28, 2012, 11:40:30 AM by IainB » Logged
Stephen66515
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« Reply #1 on: April 28, 2012, 11:08:20 AM »
Quote
So, today I followed the link in sciencetext and took a look at the Wuala site: [/b]l/KKB5A56HF4F7CMCJ7F4G]Wuala - FREE 6Gb offer.

 huh

Broken?
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IainB
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« Reply #2 on: April 28, 2012, 11:41:33 AM »
Sorry!      Sad
Link now fixed.      smiley
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Stephen66515
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« Reply #3 on: April 28, 2012, 11:45:13 AM »
Quote from: IainB on April 28, 2012, 11:41:33 AM
Sorry!      Sad
Link now fixed.      smiley

 cheesy
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db90h
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« Reply #4 on: April 28, 2012, 03:13:35 PM »
There is a *huge* difference between 'encryption' and 'client-side encryption', the latter being when the CLIENT generates and controls the key. The latter is available only at Carbonite, afaik, though maybe this service supports it, and that's what you are saying.

Even Google Drive does not offer client controlled encryption. If this service offers that, then the encryption 'counts'. Otherwise, the encryption is just useful en-route, as when stored on their servers it is stored right along side the decryption key.

Of course, the issue with clients controlling their own key is obvious -- they are likely to lose it, its harder to make things 'just work', etc.. However, for me, that's a pre-requisite to storing anything I wouldn't want publicly broadcast. For standard stuff that doesn't matter much, I don't care.. but for private things, you definitely have to control the encryption key.

Yes, you can encrypt then upload to any service, but then you must download and decrypt it to access the data, making the process a lot more cumbersome than a system that lets you generate and use a local key seamlessly.

I suspect that law enforcement is actively engaged in trying to deter these cloud storage services from offering true client side encryption, as it makes their jobs a bit harder in some cases.
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Deozaan
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« Reply #5 on: April 28, 2012, 06:15:21 PM »
SpiderOak also does client-side encryption. FYI.
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IainB
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« Reply #6 on: April 28, 2012, 10:02:36 PM »
Interesting. It looks as though we have here - so far, from the above comments - at least three (3) client-side encryption cloud-storage services:
  • 1. Wuala (per IainB)
  • 2. Carbonite (per @db90h)
  • 3. SpiderOak (per @Deozaan)

About Wuala: (as far as I have been able to establish by this point)
  • Has a client application that encrypts/decrypts the data synced/sent to/from the cloud-storage. The files as stored on the local drive are encrypted, then sent in encrypted form between client and cloud-storage.
  • The data on your local drive is presented by the client application in a proprietary file explorer window. (I have not yet established where it is stored logically on the disk in C:\Users\[USER]\AppData\Local\Wuala)
  • The proprietary file explorer window shows/holds folders and files in the same structure as held on the cloud-storage.
  • You can read and edit the files in the proprietary file explorer window, which are encrypted/decrypted for the local editing application.
  • Installing the client application necessitates a system reboot.
  • The first time you run the client application, it asks for your user account details, or whether you want to set up a user account.
  • If you want to set up a user account, then the client application walks you through user account setup.
  • The application takes/uses whatever string you give it as an account PASSWORD at setup. I presume that it is related to the encryption key somehow. (You can change the PASSWORD subsequently, if you wish.)
  • You are warned that if you lose/forget the PASSWORD, then you have lost all your data also (unrecoverable), as the PASSWORD is not stored or known in the cloud-storage side.
  • The client application asks you to set a memory-nudging note in case you forget the PASSWORD. (The note is stored.)
  • The client application can store the PASSWORD if you select that as an option, otherwise you have to type it in every time you start up the client application. (I think I prefer the latter, for security.) The application does not tell you what the PASSWORD is.
  • The client application can be started manually or by default as a Windows startup.
Quote from: db90h on April 28, 2012, 03:13:35 PM
I suspect that law enforcement is actively engaged in trying to deter these cloud storage services from offering true client side encryption, as it makes their jobs a bit harder in some cases.
Yes, probably so. Wouldn't surprise me one bit.     huh
« Last Edit: April 29, 2012, 12:17:21 AM by IainB; Reason: Corrected details re encryption and PASSWORD. » Logged
phitsc
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« Reply #7 on: April 29, 2012, 04:46:10 PM »
One annoyance with at least Wuala and Spideroak is that their mobile clients for Android and iOS do not support uploading into the cloud yet.
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J-Mac
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« Reply #8 on: May 05, 2012, 03:07:42 PM »
Quote from: phitsc on April 29, 2012, 04:46:10 PM
One annoyance with at least Wuala and Spideroak is that their mobile clients for Android and iOS do not support uploading into the cloud yet.

Not sure that you could encrypt files on Android or iOS. And neither platform is proving to be very secure. That might be a readon why they are struggling to add the feature. Just a guess.   smiley

Jim
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