Re: WWDC 2011
I don't think I fully understand the concerns about 'cloud' computing. Yes I understand that all your data is there for someone to possibly hack, but there is already a lot of data about me on many companies servers around the world anyway. What's the difference? Is it that fact it's in one place and not spread over many places?
Also remember one difference is that bit of personal info that's sat on some companies server somewhere is likely to be sat on an internal resource for internal eyes only.
A cloud service like this is there to stick your data out in the open, theoretically just so that you can access it.
The term cloud is annoying though, it's not exactly new, just a buzz word that's used now it's become something that's used for more stuff.
As Roy says by storing the data on their servers rather then yours you've now shifted all the responsibility to manage, maintain and secure those systems to that company.
How do you know they are doing everything they should be, and everything they say they are?
It's a common issue businesses face, for instance does your service provider let you come and audit the systems yourself, do they let you vulnerability scan them yourself?
This way of working, with the rise of SaaS offerings, definitely brings something good to the table but also brings a different kind of risk you've got to watch out for.