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What Is iCloud+? Apple's Cloud-Based Storage Service Explained

What Is iCloud+? Apple’s Cloud-Based Storage Service Explained

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iCloud has been the foundation of Apple’s ecosystem for years, allowing for easy file sharing, synchronisation, and backup. But with the release of iOS/iPadOS 15, Apple introduced iCloud+, a cloud service that is now even better than before. With its special features like Private Relay, Hide My Email, Custom Email Domain, and enhanced HomeKit Secure Video capabilities, this premium membership is intended to improve security and privacy. Here is a summary of the features that iCloud+ offers.

Comprehending the iCloud Landscape:

What Is iCloud+? Apple's Cloud-Based Storage Service Explained

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  • iCloud: Photo, email, contacts, calendars, and more are all covered by Apple’s basic file backup and synchronisation service. 5GB of internet storage is offered by the free version.
  • iCloud+: iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 users can subscribe to the premium plan, which offers 50GB, 200GB, and 2TB of storage. It comes with upgraded features that go beyond what the free plan offers.

Key features of iCloud+:

  • Private Relay: Apple’s creative VPN solution that protects your online activity while using Safari. It sends your traffic across two different relays for increased anonymity, substituting an anonymous IP address based on your area for your original one.
  • Hide My Email: An improved version of Apple Sign-in that minimises spam and maintains anonymity by enabling the use of a random email address for any website or online form.
  • Custom Email Domain: This feature allows you to send and receive iCloud Mail using your domain rather than an icloud.com address. It is designed for users who have their domain names. Up to five personal domains with three email addresses are supported.
  • HomeKit Secure Video Enhancements: Depending on your membership, iCloud+ provides a range of storage choices, including 50GB for one camera, 200GB for up to five cameras, and 2TB for an infinite number of cameras.

Also Read: Unlocking the Secrets of Apple’s New Journal App in iOS 17

How to Use iCloud Services:

iCloud Drive: The location of your synced and backed-up files. Direct file uploading, downloading, and sharing are supported.

iCloud+ is available as a comprehensive bundle for all Apple products, including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, and Apple TV. It also allows up to five family members to participate in family sharing.

Basically, iCloud+ is a whole digital experience improvement rather than just an upgrade in storage. With features like Custom Email Domain and Private Relay, Apple’s iCloud+ is a comprehensive suite that adapts to its users’ changing demands. It also offers personalised email solutions.

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Apple to Start Encrypting iCloud Backups

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On Wednesday, Apple introduced its plans to enable users to encrypt additional types of iCloud info on its servers, such as full backups, photos, and notes.

The Advanced Data Protection feature will inhibit Apple from viewing the material of a portion of the most confidential or sensitive data stored on its web server and will prevent Apple from providing the information of an encoded backup to law enforcement.

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Image Source: wired.com

According to Apple, encoded backups would be opt-in and available in the United States even before the end of this year.

Although Apple initially encrypted much of the data it contains on servers, the whole device backups containing text messages, contacts, as well as other necessary details were not end-to-end encoded, and Apple originally had access to the information of the backups.

The move will impress security advocates, who have originally defined unencrypted iCloud backups as a weak link in Apple’s privacy policy. It also implies that if Apple’s servers were ever hacked, user data would not be revealed.

Read More: Apple lets developers charge up to $10,000 per app

It could offend law enforcement, which has relied on Apple’s policy of not encrypting backups to get contents in investigations even though Apple’s iMessage and devices are encrypted.

The FBI criticized Apple’s new feature in a statement on Wednesday, saying that it would “hinder” the bureau’s ability to “protect the American people from criminal acts,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

Source: cnbc.com

Apple notably battled the FBI’s endeavor to persuade it to unlock an encrypted iPhone utilized by a terrorist in San Bernardino, California, through the courts. Apple stated at the time that an iCloud backup on its servers was an alternative for obtaining the same data.

Encryption is generally opposed by law enforcement officials around the world since it enables suspects to go dark and refuses to acknowledge law enforcement access to potential evidence that they might have earlier access to under lower levels of security.

In an interview in 2018, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that one major consideration in Apple’s decision-making regarding end-to-end encrypted iCloud backups is the fact that customer expects Apple to be able to assist them to recover their data. If users forget their passwords and have Advanced Data Protection enabled, Apple will be unable to reinstate the account since it lacks the required encryption key.

On Wednesday, Apple further introduced two additional security features. Users will have the option to use a physical key as second-factor authentication for Apple ID logins soon. Another update enables users who are vulnerable to major security risks to verify that their text messages are not being intercepted.

Last year, Apple introduced a system to inspect for inappropriate content including child sexual abuse content that used a complex system that would still enable

Apple encrypts user photos on its servers during an evident attempt to appease law enforcement. Privacy advocates argued that the system would mainly enable Apple to scan people’s hard drives. According to The Wall Street Journal, the system’s development has been halted.

Apple Giving 10% Cash Bonus to its Users to Make Purchases for Apple Services

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According to a report from MacRumors, Apple is sending emails to its App Store and iTunes users about the bonus Apple is offering to its users when they add money to their Apple ID account. According to the news, these offers have been made available from 10th March and will be over as soon as 14th March.

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The offers will be applied to the direct transactions of money through a credit or debit card while making purchases on iTunes, App Store and iCloud. For now, the users will get a 10 per cent discount on the transactions, and the offer will be valid for only a single purchase per user.

The money can be easily added from the settings of the Apple Account. The users need to go to the Settings, tap on their Account Name, then select the iTunes and App Store option. After that, they can choose the “Add Funds to Apple ID” option from the selected Apple ID. In this option, the various options of amounts to be added will appear on the screen. Here the users need to add the money.

The money can also be added to the Apple Account directly from “Add Funds” options on the iTunes Store or by clicking on the Apple ID on App Store. The offer is also available for Desktop users.

The new bonus offer from Apple is applicable to any purchase amount between the US $1 to the US $200. So the greater the amount, the greater will be the discount.

The offer currently, is not valid for the users in the UK, Australia or Canada. And, for countries like Germany, the discount rate is set to 15 per cent. The money added to the Apple Account is used to purchase paid apps, music on iTunes, and to purchase storage space on iCloud. So when the users will add money to their Apple Accounts in the given dates, they will get 10 per cent extra money to pay for Apple services.

Apple Updates iCloud to Fix the Compatibility Issues with Windows

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Apple along with Microsoft had been working on the latest version of iCloud for Windows, and have just released the newest version of iCloud for Windows version 7.8.1. The Apple device users, having a Windows machine, had been complaining about the compatibility issues for a long time, for that Apple and Microsoft came together and started working to solve the issues.

The problem was occurring for most of the Windows 10 users when they were trying to install iCloud on it, they were getting an error message over the screen, with the failed installation. Also, the users who already had the software installed on their Windows machine were also facing problems with the Photos syncing and more.

Having received so many complaints regarding the compatibility issues of iCloud with Windows, earlier this month, Microsoft blocked its users from downloading iCloud for Windows. It had also noticed that the users were having a problem in updating the Shared Albums after they upgraded to Windows 10 version 1809.

Microsoft had earlier confirmed that it was working with Apple together, to resolve the issue, but, there has been no mention about the update of the iCloud for Windows from Apple. Yet it has listed some of the requirements for using the iCloud for windows on its support page: “iCloud for Windows 7.8.1 requires Microsoft Windows 7 or later; Outlook 2007 or later or iCloud.com (for Mail, Contacts, Calendar); and Internet Explorer 10 or later, Firefox 30 or later, or Google Chrome 28 or later (for Bookmarks).” The update on the iCloud support page has ensured that the problems that the users were facing earlier, won’t be there anymore, and they can now use the software on Windows machines without any difficulties.

All You Need To Know About The iCloud Hack Story

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It’s a real tough to hack into an iPhone or Apple ID and that’s well established. But hackers find a way to do it anyways. On March 21st, a group of hackers going by the name of ‘Turkish Crime Family’ claimed to have access to a large cache of iCloud and other Apple email accounts. The hacker group contacted Vice Blog Motherboard demanding $75,000 in Bitcoin or Ethereum, another form of popular crypto-currency, or $100,000 worth of iTunes gift cards in exchange for deleting the alleged cache of data.

“I just want my money and thought this would be an interesting report that a lot of Apple customers would be interested in reading and hearing,” one of the hackers told Motherboard.

They also shared a screenshot of their communication with Apple security team member and it seemed legit. There was a message in which security team member demanded for a sample of data set. In response, hackers uploaded a YouTube video accessing an old women’s iCloud account. As of now, they claim to have access to 559 million Apple emails and iCloud accounts in total and if their demands are not met, all the user data will be wiped out remotely by April 7.

In response to the threat, Apple contacted Motherboard assuring control of the situation and told: “There have not been any breaches in any of Apple’s systems including iCloud and Apple ID. The alleged list of email addresses and passwords appears to have been obtained from previously compromised third-party services.

We’re actively monitoring to prevent unauthorized access to user accounts and are working with law enforcement to identify the criminals involved. To protect against these type of attacks, we always recommend that users always use strong passwords, not use those same passwords across sites and turn on two-factor authentication.”

Since there was not much evidence proving the claim of hackers, so ZDnet decided to reach out to them. The Turkish Crime Family provided them a small sample of 54 IDs from their alleged 500 million or so. To check the validity of IDs, ZDnet tried contacting people linked with the accounts and found 10 passwords out of 54 were in use at present.

There was nothing common among the 10 verified accounts. The people were using different cellular networks and owned different Apple devices including, iPhones, Macs, iPads. This indicates that the data was not obtained from a particular network and was also not limited to single product line.

Although most of the them used same password for their iCloud account and other services, but there were few who assured that their iCloud password was unique and was not used anywhere else. So, in this case Apple’s statement “obtained from previously compromised third-party services”, might not be completely true.

After all this, one thing is for sure that with the advancement in security measures, hackers too are going a step ahead. It doesn’t matter how the hackers got all those credentials, you should take some measures for your own data security. Anyone with an Apple ID should change their passwords immediately to something that is more secure and complex and enabling two-factor authentication would be a good step. Go ahead and take the measures before something bad happens.