The Gold Rush for Secure Clouds

Europe has blown the War Bugle, they will build their own EU clouds and secure their data and applications within the boundaries of Europe.
The Rest of the World will also follow suit in building their own Secure clouds for their business, government and anything else that needs cloud computing.
The Gold Rush is on for Secure Clouds built bottom up, it is going to be a bonanza for leaders who offer virtualisation solutions like VMWare and its competition including Microsoft Azure & others, Data Center Equipment hardware providers  IBM, DELL, HP and CISCO and others.
The marketing teams in these companies that provide the building material for cloud computing are going to be busy and laughing all the way to the bank. Their fears of the cheap Public Cloud will be history and no longer a challenge to their growth and revenues.

Secure Clouds in the Horizon will herald the demise of Public Clouds.

The cloud pundits who understand how to put together a cloud computing environment will be in demand, irrespective of their nationality. Cloud Architects who can deliver secure clouds will be  paid in gold for their skills.
China has shown how to build a secure national cloud by buying the Azure platform from Microsoft other countries will follow.
Open Source Computing may be used by countries who have good cloud computing  talent like India, China and Eastern Europe.
Are you ready for the Gold Rush, even if you do not understand the cloud it is a great time to invest in companies which provide the hardware, software and services in building secure clouds.
It is also time for to dis-invest from Public Clouds and SAAS solutions in the Public Clouds, their demise will be swift once these secure clouds are build, the decline could start from  New Year if the requirement for Secure Clouds becomes stronger
Are you ready for the Gold Rush for Secure Clouds, there is gold for everyone.

Are Apple Devices Secure from Cyber Spying?

My friend who is a security expert showed me his new Apple iPad 2 fully loaded with 64GB RAM; I wondered with such a large global fan following "Are Apple devices secure from cyber spying ?".
A search on the web did throw out a number of security issues with Apple devices, I share some of the concerns raised in the last quarter of 2011.
a. Why You Shouldn’t Use H1Siri
http://www.idownloadblog.com/2011/12/06/why-not-to-use-h1siri/
b. GERMAN LEADERS QUESTION APPLE’S MOTIVES OVER USE OF CARRIER IQ
http://www.idevicenews.org/german-leaders-question-apples-motives-over-use-of-carrier-iq/225018/
c.Jailbreak 5.0.1 Untethered (iOS 5) – iPhone 4, 3GS, iPad, iPod Touch 4G, 3G
http://www.jailbreaknation.com/jailbreak-ios-5-5.0.1-untethered-iphone-4-3gs-ipad-ipod-touch-4g-3g
d. Here are some important concerns of NIST before the US Government adopts Apple Devices
1.NIST Tests Ways To Secure iPhones, iPads
http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/security/231300033
2. Vulnerability Summary for CVE-2011-3432
http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2011-3432
Though these security issues are barriers I am sure Apple will fix them quickly .
The key security concern is the Nexus between an US Company (A Democracy) and China ( Communist); Apple has on all its devices "Designed by Apple in California USA Assembled in China.

Original vs Fake Apple both Made in China , courtesy
http://techielobang.com/blog/2009/05/13/this-is-not-an-iphone-video-within/

How does Apple ensure that the firmware and the software loaded by its Chinese suppliers are Secure? Apple's track record in standing up to the Chinese has not been spectacular, it bent backwards on the Dalai Lama issues by blocking all reference to the Dalai Lama on its devices sold in China, its security team seems to be drawn from Pfizer's Viagra team, hopefully making their efforts potent http://www.phonearena.com/news/Apples-counterfeits-team-powered-by-the-Viagra-security-force_id21785 A web search could not provide answers for the above question neither did Apples website or from other security forums address these concerns. 
The big concern is are users of Apple devices secure from the Chinese collecting data from their devices? As corporate and governments  migrate to Apple devices they maybe vulnerable to the Chinese who  are  leaders in espionage and cyber spying.

#Apple and HH The #Dalai Lama and #Android !

The connection between Apple Computers and Dalai Lama seem to be an outlier.
Apple is in the forefront of the Cloud Computing Revolution in the Valley while His Holiness The Dalai Lama preaches peace to  humanity from the valleys of Dharmashala and Bylakuppe in India.
The risk for Apple is its products  are made in China and if the Chinese shut down its supply then there will be no Apple devices for the world to use.
Last week President Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama and the Chinese have not appreciated this meeting with the Tibetan Spiritual leader in exile.

Photo: Courtesy Coloribus

http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/prints/apple-dalai-lama-1143705/

Given its economic might, China  may stop all shipment of Apple equipment to the world, this will put an end to Apple's supremacy.

Compare this to Android which already has a significant market share and is licenced  by Google, the Android operating systems is licenced to a number of handset manufacturers and thus Google runs no risk of the Android or its applications in the Android market place in the cloud being affected by the Chinese.

The Android is manufactured all over the world, though there may some risk because of Chinese supply; it may not be as critical as the problems that Apple would face if the Chinese shut down their manufacturing for the US company Apple. 

It is time that Apple fixed this risk, Apple's  fans and  customers deserve this for their loyalty to Apple products !

Footnote: Apple had already appeased the Chinese by blocking the Dalai Lama from the Iphones in China read this article
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kit-eaton/technomix/bad-apple-censoring-dalai-lama-china-iphone-apps
But this may still not be enough  to prevent the Chinese from stopping shipment of  Apple Phones.