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Will Mountain Lion allow me to disconnect iCloud?
#22844 08/02/12 12:46 AM
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This may sound a little strange, but I need to know if Mountain Lion will allow me to disconnect iCloud and then backup/sync with iTunes by plugging in my iPhone4S to a USB port on my Mac Pro. I handle confidential and proprietary information as part of my work and I don't want to experiment with new features on OS 10.8.x where security has not yet been tested extensively by widespread use. I also would like to use Dictate, but, for the same reason, I won't do it because the speech-to-text process occurs remotely. I currently use 10.6.8 and use the backup/sync method described above. My motive for moving to 10.8.x is to not get too far behind on other features mentioned in David Pogue's article, but the iCloud stuff is not my cup of tea at this point. I have read the other thread where iCloud is discussed, but the practice of backing up to iTunes to keep the data local was not fully addressed, IMHO.

Last edited by JoBoy; 08/02/12 01:11 AM.

Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Will Mountain Lion allow me to disconnect iCloud?
JoBoy #22860 08/02/12 10:19 PM
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Sure. This works exactly the same in Mountain Lion as it did in Lion. (It's probably the version of iTunes that's relevant, not the version of the OS.) I like to have backups in both places, so I let it back up to iCloud most of the time, but once a week I force one backup to my iMac, then switch it back to iCloud.

In any event, select the device in iTunes, click on "Back up to this computer" and "Apply". On Lion I sometimes had to do this twice to get the setting to stick. To force a backup "right now", right click on the device in iTunes and select "Backup" from the contextual menu.

To reverse the setting, on the device go to Settings→iCloud→Storage & Backup and turn on "iCloud Backup". In principle, you should be able to do it from iTunes as well, but I've discovered that when I do the iDevice nags me about re-entering the iCloud password. As long as I have to do anything on the device, it's easiest to do it all there.


Re: Will Mountain Lion allow me to disconnect iCloud?
ganbustein #22862 08/02/12 11:02 PM
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Thank you! Your assistance is greatly appreciated. I haven't downloaded Mountain Lion yet. I did use Lion 10.7.4 for a while but thought it wasn't very polished. I guess Apple polished it and charged another $20. My biggest concern was the question you answered here. Again, thanks.


Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Will Mountain Lion allow me to disconnect iCloud?
ganbustein #22915 08/06/12 01:00 AM
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Here's a perfect example of why I don't want to use iCloud for a while:

http://www.macrumors.com/2012/08/05/apple-support-allowed-hacker-access-to-reporters-icloud-account/


Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Will Mountain Lion allow me to disconnect iCloud?
JoBoy #22916 08/06/12 08:03 AM
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Originally Posted By: Mac Rumors
I know how it was done now. Confirmed with both the hacker and Apple.

Confirmed with the hacker? confused


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Will Mountain Lion allow me to disconnect iCloud?
artie505 #22920 08/06/12 04:08 PM
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That was a statement by Mat Honan, the victim. When you click on the link I placed here, there is another link in blue type "update" that gives the current detail. It updates Honan's story and spells out his further plans. It's the line above the comment that you quoted and reads:

"From an update to the original blog post:"

Last edited by JoBoy; 08/06/12 04:09 PM.

Mac Pro dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons Early 2008; 16GB RAM; MacOS X 10.11.6, iOS 9.3.5
Re: Will Mountain Lion allow me to disconnect iCloud?
JoBoy #22922 08/06/12 05:54 PM
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Yep, this is one of the many reasons I am deeply suspicious of the move toward "cloud" storage and "cloud" computing. Your data become vulnerable, as they are sitting on someone else's remotely accessible server; and it's not clear who has legal liability (if indeed anyone does) should the data be compromised from within (by a rogue employee) or without (by a hacker).


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Re: Will Mountain Lion allow me to disconnect iCloud?
JoBoy #22931 08/06/12 11:38 PM
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Got it...thanks!

(Aside: I wonder what the hacker had in mind as respects contacting him? [I wonder if he unwittingly targeted himself?])

Originally Posted By: Referenced update
When I opened my laptop [...] the screen went gray, and asked for a four digit pin.

That sounds like the hacker set an Open Firmware password...surprised that AppleCare couldn't at least guess at it.

Anyhow, many thanks for posting the story; I echo your and tacit's sentiments about iCloud and am beginning to regret not having bought a back-up Mac capable of running Snowy ( tongue , but only maybe), because I foresee Apple's implementation of iCloud becoming faaar more invasive than I've got any inclination to deal with.

As I've said before, it's beginning to look like Apple is running in a time frame that has nothing to do with reality.

Edit: The DIMMS in some newer model Macs are soldered to their logic boards and cannot be removed to defeat a maliciously set Open Firmware password if that remains the only way. crazy

Last edited by artie505; 08/07/12 06:59 AM.

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Will Mountain Lion allow me to disconnect iCloud?
artie505 #22939 08/07/12 07:40 AM
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Originally Posted By: artie505
Got it...thanks!

(Aside: I wonder what the hacker had in mind as respects contacting him? [I wonder if he unwittingly targeted himself?])

Originally Posted By: Referenced update
When I opened my laptop [...] the screen went gray, and asked for a four digit pin.

That sounds like the hacker set an Open Firmware password...surprised that AppleCare couldn't at least guess at it.


The hacker says he did this in order to make the world aware of a flaw in Apple's security. By bragging to the victim, and even supplying specifics of how the attack was done, he has attained that goal in spectacular fashion. The victim is now shouting from the rooftops the message that the hacker wanted to get out.

It had nothing to do with Open Firmware, which, in any event, only protects you from someone with physical access to the machine. Which is silly because once someone has physical access (almost) nothing can protect you.

The attack was done through good old old-fashioned social engineering, targeting his iCloud account. Once into iCloud, the hacker used Find My Mac to put a PIN on the victim's Mac. The scary part is that the successful attack was done by exploiting the naiveté of the very people at Apple whose job it is to maintain iCloud security. The scarier part is that a day later Apple still has not closed the hole. There should have been some heads rolling; instead, all we've seen so far is shoulder shrugging.

(BTW: adding/removing RAM, even if unsoldered, no longer disables an Open Firmware password.)

Re: Will Mountain Lion allow me to disconnect iCloud?
ganbustein #22941 08/07/12 08:43 AM
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> The hacker says he did this in order to make the world aware of a flaw in Apple's security. By bragging to the victim, and even supplying specifics of how the attack was done, he has attained that goal in spectacular fashion. The victim is now shouting from the rooftops the message that the hacker wanted to get out.

Thanks for the fill-in. (You've obviously read more about the matter than I have.)

So the victim did, in a sense, unwittingly target himself by being in a far better position to make his voice heard loud and clear by a large audience than, let's say, the hacker's next door neighbor would have been.

And beyond making the world aware of a flaw in Apple's security, the hacker has, yet again, made the world aware that the weakest link in any chain is the person holding on to its end.

> It had nothing to do with Open Firmware, which, in any event, only protects you from someone with physical access to the machine. Which is silly because once someone has physical access (almost) nothing can protect you.

I mentioned Open Firmware password because considering the damage the hacker had already done, adding insult to injury didn't seem out of the question, and I was unaware that a PIN could be remotely attached to a Mac (*).

> The attack was done through good old old-fashioned social engineering, targeting his iCloud account. Once into iCloud, the hacker used Find My Mac to put a PIN on the victim's Mac (*). The scary part is that the successful attack was done by exploiting the naiveté of the very people at Apple whose job it is to maintain iCloud security. The scarier part is that a day later Apple still has not closed the hole. There should have been some heads rolling; instead, all we've seen so far is shoulder shrugging.

Closing that hole looks like yet another use for duct tape. grin

> (BTW: adding/removing RAM, even if unsoldered, no longer disables an Open Firmware password.)

Thanks for that update. (Without soliciting it, I wonder what the current brute-force method for removing a maliciously set password is?)

Edit: Recovering a lost firmware password

In the past, when the issue has come up here, I and others have advised the poster to take the Mac in question to an Apple Store, but this thread has got me wondering, because I note that the doc does not mention anything about a requirement that you document your right to the service.

Last edited by artie505; 08/07/12 09:41 AM.

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Will Mountain Lion allow me to disconnect iCloud?
artie505 #22961 08/08/12 12:38 AM
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Originally Posted By: artie505
So the victim did, in a sense, unwittingly target himself by being in a far better position to make his voice heard loud and clear by a large audience than, let's say, the hacker's next door neighbor would have been.

Only indirectly. The hacker picked the target simply because he had a three-letter Twitter handle, suggesting he was an early adopter and therefore likely well-connected on many social networks.

Re: Will Mountain Lion allow me to disconnect iCloud?
ganbustein #23012 08/10/12 06:40 PM
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Originally Posted By: ganbustein
Only indirectly. The hacker picked the target simply because he had a three-letter Twitter handle, suggesting he was an early adopter and therefore likely well-connected on many social networks.


hmmm I have a two character slashdot ID... I better go hide


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Re: Will Mountain Lion allow me to disconnect iCloud?
JoBoy #23140 08/17/12 08:58 PM
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There are other iCloud related changes in Mountain Lion that may affect your preferences, but that are not affected by the changes made to iTunes settings suggested by Ganbustein. In the Bugs and Fixes topic Default folder changes in Mountain Lion Ted Landau discusses the fact that certain new documents get saved to iCloud by default in Mountain Lion. The new default setting cannot be permanently changed other than by unchecking Documents & Data in iCloud’s System Preferences. This behavior is currently shown by TextEdit and Preview, as well as certain 3rd party apps, but will presumably be extended to other apps as well.


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