Siri and iCloud Banned at IBM Headquarters over Security Risks

[MMA123]

Siri

this is funny especially since one of my best friends works for NASA and they bought him the new iPhone 4S, I just called him to ask him if they banned Siri for security reasons and his response was no, so that was kind of surprising because I know that for his laptop he is required to change his complicated password every 2 weeks, so does IBM have more secret projects than NASA?!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

[convergent]

Have you considered that I do not care what they do behind the scenes? Obviously it is in their right to do what they need to do for security. My argument is that allowing it to be discussed in a interview is an underhanded move, especially by such a large and respected company. Simply putting the words "security," "risk," and "SIRI" together is enough to add to the growing public fear of privacy policy and Apple. It builds on public consciousness.

SIRI doesn't do anything that isn't already done by every other Internet e-mail and calendar service. It is a unfortunate but seemingly necessary aspect of the cloud.

Do you actually know what the job of a CIO is?

Chief information officer (CIO), or information technology (IT) director, is a job title commonly given to the most senior executive in an enterprise responsible for the information technology and computer systems that support enterprise goals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_information_officer

So if you don't care what they do "behind the scenes", then you should not read articles about CIOs since their job is pretty much all about what goes on behind the scenes when you plug into their IT system. It is clearly not "underhanded" to talk about this stuff. IBM is a respected IT company, and a huge IT services organization that helps other organizations's CIOs solve their IT problems. All organizations are exploring how to do BYOD, and IBM has been doing it for a long time and learned a lot.

As I mentioned in a previous post, this has nothing to do with Apple. IBM's policy does not allow the use of ANY public cloud service for business use... period. They have a very good internal cloud system with rich social networking tools, storage, etc.. so there is really no need for the use of public clouds for work. What's unique about Apple vs. the many other clouds, is that Apple has tightly integrated all their products together which is very good for the consumer, and very bad for someone trying to use their stuff in an enterprise.

Did you not just read the article on here less than a week ago that someone has created software that can hack into iCloud and retrieve the backup of an iOS device. These are real concerns... and are concerns with any public cloud. Latest brand report, again posted on here, put Apple's brand at number one in value, and IBM at number two. One serious security breach that goes public and your reputation can be ruined. IBM does IT services for thousands of clients around the world and their reputation is something that has immense priority. IBM has a very good BYOD policy that continues to evolve as mobile technology moves along. I've worked with many different organizations' IT departments and most would not let me use my own Mac and iPhone to conduct business connected to enterprise IT systems.

Bottom line is I believe the reporter tried to create click bait in how they wrote the article, and accomplished their mission. The article has some things misconstrued for sure.

 

[ristlin]

Do you actually know what the job of a CIO is?

Chief information officer (CIO), or information technology (IT) director, is a job title commonly given to the most senior executive in an enterprise responsible for the information technology and computer systems that support enterprise goals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_information_officer

So if you don't care what they do "behind the scenes", then you should not read articles about CIOs since their job is pretty much all about what goes on behind the scenes when you plug into their IT system. It is clearly not "underhanded" to talk about this stuff. IBM is a respected IT company, and a huge IT services organization that helps other organizations's CIOs solve their IT problems. All organizations are exploring how to do BYOD, and IBM has been doing it for a long time and learned a lot.

As I mentioned in a previous post, this has nothing to do with Apple. IBM's policy does not allow the use of ANY public cloud service for business use... period. They have a very good internal cloud system with rich social networking tools, storage, etc.. so there is really no need for the use of public clouds for work. What's unique about Apple vs. the many other clouds, is that Apple has tightly integrated all their products together which is very good for the consumer, and very bad for someone trying to use their stuff in an enterprise.

Did you not just read the article on here less than a week ago that someone has created software that can hack into iCloud and retrieve the backup of an iOS device. These are real concerns... and are concerns with any public cloud. Latest brand report, again posted on here, put Apple's brand at number one in value, and IBM at number two. One serious security breach that goes public and your reputation can be ruined. IBM does IT services for thousands of clients around the world and their reputation is something that has immense priority. IBM has a very good BYOD policy that continues to evolve as mobile technology moves along. I've worked with many different organizations' IT departments and most would not let me use my own Mac and iPhone to conduct business connected to enterprise IT systems.

Bottom line is I believe the reporter tried to create click bait in how they wrote the article, and accomplished their mission. The article has some things misconstrued for sure.

Scroll down a bit more through the forum to read my full explanation. I actually read the article and point out, word for word, why she was out of line.

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Hahah...you do realize that the snippet you quoted came from the reporter and is NOT a direct quote from Ms. Horan (as pointed out by kdarling), right? So if you want to claim: Technology Review has it out for Apple and are trying to instill fear...then yes, maybe I can see your point. But your original stance that IBM is being underhanded in an attempt to unjustifiably alarm the public about Apple and Siri...well, that stance has no basis. Again, cite us some references that IBM is doing this as a direct attack pointed solely at Apple.

And saying that a company doesn't "worry" about things proves you're not too in-tune with how businesses are run. People are paid to think of risks, and then paid to analyze those risks, make them visible, and mitigate against them. Isn't the act of thinking about risks (prior to an in-depth analysis) the act of worrying?

The reporter is writing what was said during the interview. If you know anything about reporting you know that they can do something called paraphrasing (i.e., she is shortening what was said during the interview).

And your experience with companies may be somewhat lacking if you think "worry" is a good way to describe how IBM feels about other technology.

 

[KnightWRX]

Scroll down a bit more through the forum to read my full explanation. I actually read the article and point out, word for word, why she was out of line.

There was nothing out of line at all.

I don't understand why you're so concerned about IBM's policy here and why you feel the need to defend Apple over it. Apple didn't bother to even address this, why do you feel the need to get defensive over it ?

Standard corporate policy that a reporter decided to report on. Nothing to see here really, no lies were told about Siri.

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And you do not know anything about companies if you think "worry" is a good way to describe how IBM feels about other technology.

Companies are worried all the time :

http://www.electronista.com/articles/12/03/08/epic.games.pushes.for.faster.ps4.and.next.xbox/

Why do you think they shouldn't be ? No seriously, have you even ever worked in a company ?

 

[ristlin]

Uh ? None of that crap uses iCloud. I don't use iCloud (not subscribed or even registered) and I use all of those.

You're just making stuff up. Dialing especially... what the heck ?

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So you admit IBM's worries are legitimate since you state yourself that Apple probably stores all of the Siri input. Gotcha, nothing underhanded to their policy then.

My claim isn't that you use iCloud, it's that Siri isn't exclusive to what you consider to be a unique ability for Siri to store information in a remote data center. It's clear you are quite unfamiliar with the Internet. Let me spell it out for you. Everything you do on the Internet is stored in a remote server. Siri, a type of program that works using the Internet and also stores data on a remote server for it to work.

IBM specifically naming any company during the Interview is an underhanded move, especially when they state their own services as being adequate for the job. That dozens of media publications have spread the story (especially he line concerning Apple) shows that they are successful.

 

[KnightWRX]

My claim isn't that you use iCloud, it's that Siri isn't exclusive to what you consider to be a unique ability for Siri to store information in a remote data center. It's clear you are quite unfamiliar with the Internet. Let me spell it out for you. Everything you do on the Internet is stored in a remote server. Siri, a type of program that works using the Internet and also stores data on a remote server for it to work.

Yes, and that is the problem with Siri when it comes to IBM's corporate policies. Everything you use it for, even if it is for local functionality (dialing, music, calendar entries, dictating notes) is sent over the Internet. This is not acceptable to IBM, and you know what ? That is fine, it's their right to have this policy in place.

You're repeating the same thing I'm saying here. You're not providing any insight I haven't already given you.

It's clear you're just egging us on now. You've been doing it for a few pages. You have no basis for your arguments of "underhanded" practices. Naming services as examples ? Not underhanded. Stating their services are good for them ? Not underhanded. They aren't arguing the services aren't technically capable and that their services are superior. They are stating they'd rather keep their Internal data internally. Something only their own services can provide.

 

[ristlin]

There was nothing out of line at all.

I don't understand why you're so concerned about IBM's policy here and why you feel the need to defend Apple over it. Apple didn't bother to even address this, why do you feel the need to get defensive over it ?

Standard corporate policy that a reporter decided to report on. Nothing to see here really, no lies were told about Siri.

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Companies are worried all the time :

http://www.electronista.com/articles/12/03/08/epic.games.pushes.for.faster.ps4.and.next.xbox/

Why do you think they shouldn't be ? No seriously, have you even ever worked in a company ?

I run my own company in addition to being a part of a great one. Yes we worry, but we don't describe ourselves as being worried to the public when something we may be unfamiliar with shows up. "Worry" is not a good word to use when you have shareholders or high profile clients.

You don't seem to understand that IBM's policy isn't the issue here. It's that they shared the list of companies in the first place and/or specifically named Dropbox and Apple products as being inadequate for their use. That is an underhanded move.

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Yes, and that is the problem with Siri when it comes to IBM's corporate policies. Everything you use it for, even if it is for local functionality (dialing, music, calendar entries, dictating notes) is sent over the Internet. This is not acceptable to IBM, and you know what ? That is fine, it's their right to have this policy in place.

You're repeating the same thing I'm saying here. You're not providing any insight I haven't already given you.

It's clear you're just egging us on now. You've been doing it for a few pages. You have no basis for your arguments of "underhanded" practices.

What's clear is that you are fixated with a part of the argument that is irrelevant.

 

[KnightWRX]

I run my own company in addition to being a part of a great one. Yes we worry, but we don't describe ourselves as being worried to the public when something we may be unfamiliar with shows up. "Worry" is not a good word to use when you have shareholders or high profile clients.

I think Horan is quite familiar with Dropbox and Siri from her comments. In fact, that is what has her worried, the fact she understands what these services are and how they work.

Frankly, you're just dragging this on for no good reason. Same as you do in every thread you participate in. Apple doesn't care about IBM's comments, IBM answered a question about their policy. Nothing to see here, move along.

Welcome to my ignore list.

 

[ristlin]

I think Horan is quite familiar with Dropbox and Siri from her comments. In fact, that is what has her worried, the fact she understands what these services are and how they work.

Frankly, you're just dragging this on for no good reason. Same as you do in every thread you participate in. Apple doesn't care about IBM's comments, IBM answered a question about their policy. Nothing to see here, move along.

Welcome to my ignore list.

The fact that you consistently quote everything but the bulk of the issue suggests that you do indeed have nothing to say. Thanks for removing yourself from the conversation.

Understand that IBM's policy isn't the issue here. It's that they shared the list of companies in the first place and/or specifically named Dropbox and Apple products as being inadequate for their use. That is an underhanded move.

 

[ristlin]

this is funny especially since one of my best friends works for NASA and they bought him the new iPhone 4S, I just called him to ask him if they banned Siri for security reasons and his response was no, so that was kind of surprising because I know that for his laptop he is required to change his complicated password every 2 weeks, so does IBM have more secret projects than NASA?!?!?!?!?!?!?

NASA is just smart enough to realize that no one is going to have a monologue with Siri about their next project and that:

"Siri, remind me to attend the Mars lander meeting with Ben next Wednesday" will wreck havoc if it was ever released to the general public. :roll eyes:

 

[Rodimus Prime]

this is funny especially since one of my best friends works for NASA and they bought him the new iPhone 4S, I just called him to ask him if they banned Siri for security reasons and his response was no, so that was kind of surprising because I know that for his laptop he is required to change his complicated password every 2 weeks, so does IBM have more secret projects than NASA?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Ask him if he is the company wifi. I am willing to be the answer is NOPE.

On top of that you need to understand the security at NASA us more about keeping people from screwing with and edittinf the data than keeping people from getting it.
Reason why is if that data is wrong people die.

As pointed out all ready this is a crap article to get clicks. They threw in Apple for that reason. What is going on is fairly SOP at companies. Block anything from the company network that they do not control.
Your NASA friend is more than likely on cell network and not company network.

 

[convergent]

IBM specifically naming any company during the Interview is an underhanded move, especially when they state their own services as being adequate for the job. That dozens of media publications have spread the story (especially he line concerning Apple) shows that they are successful.

A CIO's responsibility is for their enterprise. A CIO is not a publicist, sales rep, or marketing person. If you don't want to know what someone's internal policies are, then don't read what CIOs say. IBM's policy is not unique to Apple's iCloud. It expressly forbids the use of ANY public cloud. Other CIO's are going to be interested in how IBM is approaching this problem with BYOD. To talk about it without any specifics or examples would be pretty ridiculous. The iPhone is the most used BYOD device, so that is what they are talking about. No one is bashing Apple here from IBM. The two companies don't compete on anything meaningful, so what possible motive could there be to be "underhanded". IBM doesn't make mobile devices, music players, laptops, etc., etc. Apple doesn't make enterprise systems, do enterprise services, etc.. The only thing going on here is that the reporter created some click bait and you apparently swallowed it.

As for stating Apple is inadequate while there's isn't, you are COMPLETELY missing the point. Its not about Apple vs. IBM. Its about public vs. private. Do you understand the difference? If an enterprise is going to store things in the cloud, it is good policy for it to be a private cloud, not a public cloud. That is the point of the policy.

 

[Stella]

this is funny especially since one of my best friends works for NASA and they bought him the new iPhone 4S, I just called him to ask him if they banned Siri for security reasons and his response was no, so that was kind of surprising because I know that for his laptop he is required to change his complicated password every 2 weeks, so does IBM have more secret projects than NASA?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Each company have their own security policies. What projects are on going is pretty irrelevant. If IBM feel they need to block certain services then so be it - nothing out of the ordinary. IBM is not a competitor to Apple, or blocking SIRI out of spite.

I know you really want to find a smoking gun with IBM blocking SIRI but you won't find it. Are you upset that IBM have blocked a service from your favourite company? Would you have totally ignored this story if it didn't mention IBM blocking Apple services?

TBH, I'm still a bit puzzled why you think its an underhanded move by IBM.

Seriously, your getting hot and bothered over a non story.

 

[NorEaster]

IBM specifically naming any company during the Interview is an underhanded move, especially when they state their own services as being adequate for the job. That dozens of media publications have spread the story (especially he line concerning Apple) shows that they are successful.

No, it shows the Technology Review reporter as being successful at generating interest because he added the words Apple, Siri, and security to his article. IBM didn't send out a press release decrying Apple and Siri. They responded to a reporter's questions, who then wrote an article with some keyboards to bait readership, and which then caused other publications to jump on the story.

You should sharpen your analytical skills, or at least learn how cause and effect works. Or maybe your analytical skills are perfectly fine, but you just want to levy vindictiveness towards IBM for no apparent reason (other than to be an Apple fanatic).

And regarding your comment about paraphrasing...so you agree then that Ms. Horan didn't actually say she was worried..that she may not have even used those words, right? Since the Technology Review reporter didn't quote her directly as saying she was worried, your entire basis for attacking IBM is relying on a reporter's translation of what IBM said. Good one... just another reason for me to ignore your posts from now on.

 

[ristlin]

A CIO's responsibility is for their enterprise. A CIO is not a publicist, sales rep, or marketing person. If you don't want to know what someone's internal policies are, then don't read what CIOs say. IBM's policy is not unique to Apple's iCloud. It expressly forbids the use of ANY public cloud. Other CIO's are going to be interested in how IBM is approaching this problem with BYOD. To talk about it without any specifics or examples would be pretty ridiculous. The iPhone is the most used BYOD device, so that is what they are talking about. No one is bashing Apple here from IBM. The two companies don't compete on anything meaningful, so what possible motive could there be to be "underhanded". IBM doesn't make mobile devices, music players, laptops, etc., etc. Apple doesn't make enterprise systems, do enterprise services, etc.. The only thing going on here is that the reporter created some click bait and you apparently swallowed it.

As for stating Apple is inadequate while there's isn't, you are COMPLETELY missing the point. Its not about Apple vs. IBM. Its about public vs. private. Do you understand the difference? If an enterprise is going to store things in the cloud, it is good policy for it to be a private cloud, not a public cloud. That is the point of the policy.

Like I said, it is obvious that they can do whatever they want with their policy, I do not deny that nor do I deny that the iCloud platform or Siri may not meet their policy standards. However, singling out one company (Dropbox parent company isn't mentioned) during an interview is bad form, especially considering they have a so-called ban "list." Their motive may not have been to cause harm, but the results speak for themselves. The story has been spread and the main focus of each new report is that IBM does not allow Siri or iCloud within the company. The results, tied to the poor decision to mention any companies on their ban list (in this case Apple and its two products) suggests an underhanded move.

Also, you do not need to be a direct competitor to want to see another company slow down its progress, especially one such as Apple that has the bank to expand into any category they choose.

 

[Stella]

Like I said, it is obvious that they can do whatever they want with their policy, I do not deny that nor do I deny that the iCloud platform or Siri may not meet their policy standards.
<snip>
The story has been spread and the main focus of each new report is that IBM does not allow Siri or iCloud within the company. The results, tied to the poor decision to mention any companies on their ban list (in this case Apple and its two products) suggests an underhanded move.
<snip>
.

Your reading way too much into things. I think this quote from the article sums things up nicely:
"We're just extraordinarily conservative," Horan says. "It's the nature of our business."

Given your example, what do IBM have to gain from blocking SIRI and iCloud other than security reasons?

 

[rutledjw]

Not everyone needs to be in the "consumer market". IBM has no problems bringing technologies to the market, it's just not the market you think it is.

This one was a consumer technology. In my experience, it was hit or miss. I'm an unabashed IBM HW fan, and their innovation there is on public display. But in areas outside their strong, core competencies, they seem to struggle.

I'm sure that could be described as self-evident. I found it surprising because it seems like IBM gives the Watson guys a lot of leeway (which suggests they see the value in research outside a particular field), but can't capitalize.

 

[Bubba Satori]

This is an underhanded move by IBM. Reminds me of a situation in Atlas Shrugged when a large "unbiased" organization comes out and says they aren't sure if a new steel is safe to use in a public project like building a railroad, which of course makes everyone afraid to ride on said rails out of fear of the unknown. Same applies here, IBM is playing the "we can't be sure of its security" card to pretty much make people question the iCloud service.

Tinfoil is on aisle five.

 

[ristlin]

Tinfoil is on aisle five.

Great, now go make yourself a hat.

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Your reading way too much into things. I think this quote from the article sums things up nicely:
"We're just extraordinarily conservative," Horan says. "It's the nature of our business."

Given your example, what do IBM have to gain from blocking SIRI and iCloud other than security reasons?

You snipped out the vital part:

"singling out [only] one company (Dropbox parent company isn't mentioned) during an interview is bad form, especially considering they have a so-called ban "list."

 

[convergent]

"singling out [only] one company (Dropbox parent company isn't mentioned) during an interview is bad form, especially considering they have a so-called ban "list."

The article was click bait. As I said before, IBM has no ban list. ALL public clouds are banned for anything business related. The story was put together to draw the reaction it got, and I doubt the CIO worded things the way they are being portrayed. I have also still not found any such ban on the use of Siri, so that appears to be false. The only use of Siri currently banned is from the lock screen, because it can access confidential information on the device. Not to say it may not be banned in a future security policy.

 

[ristlin]

The article was click bait. As I said before, IBM has no ban list. ALL public clouds are banned for anything business related. The story was put together to draw the reaction it got, and I doubt the CIO worded things the way they are being portrayed. I have also still not found any such ban on the use of Siri, so that appears to be false. The only use of Siri currently banned is from the lock screen, because it can access confidential information on the device. Not to say it may not be banned in a future security policy.

Fair enough. I would be annoyed if I was in IBM's position. The article really paints a skewed picture.

 

[rogerbarrett]

I don't know what kind of problem SIRI have .... it is a helping software

 

[aerok]

I don't know what kind of problem SIRI have .... it is a helping software

The issue at hand is not SIRI itself but where the information is stored. Read the pages preceding your post.