News

The (secure?) hard disk in the "Cloud" - in the US, anyway

Mobile: you don't want to carry 500G of disk. So (the story goes) you leave it at home, and connect it to the Internet. How? Just plug any USB disk into the cloud - with Pogoplug...! OK, and that's secure, is it?

Odd you should ask. In the Pogoplug FAQ, there are a dozen "Can I...?" and "How do I...?" questions. What is the answer to "How secure...?"

Ah, well, that's not one of the questions.

These things normally work by connecting to a central security management system. You have a security code for the device, and you register it with the central network, and it allows connections only from people who know the password. There's no reason to suggest it can't be made entirely secure. But you do have to ask whether it has been.

So the "How it works" page should be interesting. And it is. It says:

"The Pogoplug is a small device that plugs into your wall, and connects to your home router and to any external hard drive. After a very simple setup, you can share and access media and files from anywhere in or out of the home. All you need is an Internet connection!"

So that's not how it works; it's a description of what it does.

So we'll ask if we can see one, and if they'll actually tell us how it really works, and why they feel confident it's secure, and we'll report back...

All you need is a USB disk. And an Internet connection. And a Pogoplug. And complete confidence. Oh yeah; and $79 now, or an extra $20 if you wait for availability.

http://www.pogoplug.com/faq/