Normally when a nude celebrity photo leaks it's not a big deal for us, the not particularly famous. Nobody is clamoring to see me nude, after all - and if they are they're certainly not telling me - and most of the time a naked picture is leaked it's by someone related to that person and you do not have to be worried that the same thing can happen to you. However, there has been a recent celebrity nudity scandal that should be a huge deal for everyone else, whether or not their phone is filled with nude photos or not.
The problem these celebrities faced is that the photos from their phone were automatically uploaded to Apple's iCloud service. This service's security was compromised, which meant that someone illegally acquired the photos and distributed them online. Since they were just looking for naked pictures of famous people, that is the stuff that was leaked.
Fully-clothed non-celebrities still have to worry, however, because that means that the iCloud system has a giant security hole. Your photos might not be scandalous, but they could still be accessed, and there might be something you don't want people to see for reasons that aren't remotely lewd. For example, some banks allow you to deposit cheques with a photo, my own phone contains a picture of some serial numbers I needed in order to get my modem serviced. Nothing scandalous, but it could be definitely used to access my home network. This is more worrying now that Apple, who made iCloud in the first place, has just announced their Apple Pay service, intending to allow people to buy all of their things via their phone. Incredibly convenient, especially since a wallet is big and unwieldy. It might even make it possible for a Canadian to actually pay at the pump in America, a sticking point that anyone who has gone on a lengthy road trip south of the border might be familiar with. But do you trust a company that can't keep a famous person's photos safe with all of your money? It's a question that has to be asked in the light of this scandal.
Even if Apple Pay wasn't announced at an unfortunate point in the company's security record, it still makes one leery about their products. Apple sells things, whether that means books, music or software. You use your credit card to pay them for these things, that's how commerce is conducted after all. Even though the iCloud service and their other services are not the same, it should present a big worry for everyone using them. If they are lax in security in one area of their business, what about the rest of it?
Not to pick on Apple, it's a question that surrounds any other similar service as well. Apple's just one of the largest, but what security has been implemented elsewhere, and can it be accessed in the same way? Is this entire big cloud computing revolution just a dead end because of the many inherent security issues that you face?
The cloud backup of photos is also a great idea, it means your pictures can be accessed anywhere and gives a measure of security if your phone is somehow dropped into the sea. However, it's also something that needs a lot of security incorporated because some of the stuff you are backing up might be a bit sensitive. That much should be obvious, but since it has been bypassed it calls the entire organization behind the service into question.
