Apple recently announced the launch of the iCloud service which marks its most significant move into the world of cloud computing. The iCloud service will be a free service allowing users to store their photos, music or apps remotely and access them on any of their Apple devices. Another key feature of the service will allow users who buy music on the iTunes store, to listen to it on any of their Apple devices without having to download it first to a central PC.
The iCloud signals a major challenge to the dominance of Apple's rivals in this area. Google, Amazon and Facebook have all established themselves as major players in cloud computing while Apple has fallen behind. It is envisaged that the iCloud will integrate with its existing devices and therefore prove easier to use than competitors' cloud offerings. Apple's control of the cloud service as well as the devices on which they will be accessed put the company at a major comparative advantage.
Yet for all of the recent developments in cloud computing, lingering doubts remain over the security of cloud networks. This has been heightened by the recent breach in the Sony network in which the private details of over 100m users were stolen by hackers. Yet in most quarters, privacy concerns have been outweighed by the flexibility that cloud computing offers.
The lesson to be learned from this is that cloud computing customers, indivduals and corporate, should carefully review their contracts with iCloud providers to ensure that they are protected in the event of a "Cloud-crash" or data protection breaches by the provider.
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