6 ms·

Dump Dropbox -- Can you trust Dropbox to secure your stuff?

24 points by blearyeyed 14y ago

FreeKill 14y ago
Would be nice if this site actually listed alternative services that satisfy all of the criteria they are negative on Dropbox for. I am a big fan of Dropbox, but I do admit I REALLY wish they offered the option to at least encrypt certain directories within my account or even better the entire contents of it.
- ableal 14y ago
  The big one is #6, implying client side encryption. With that, most of the others are mitigated or irrelevant. The services I'm aware of with client side encryption are Wuala, SpiderOak and the controversial reborn Mega.
  - rpgmaker 14y ago
    #7 is a good one too.
nsp 14y ago
Wow, this is some intense FUD. They criticize Dropbox for relying on S3 for data storage and Amazon for hosting, and using deduplication. "Does Dropbox store multiple copies of every file? Unknown. Dropbox doesn't state whether they keep multiple copies or not. But, we do know that Amazon charges less for 'reduced redundancy'. It is unclear if Dropbox stores more than one copy of your files." Anyone able to figure out who made this? It seems way too blatant and amateurish to be a competitor, but I don't know who else would have the motivation. WHOIS is private, and the FaceBook page didn't give me any yields either. There are legitimate reasons not to use Dropbox, but this is just a terrible attempt to spread panic.
- unavoidable 14y ago
  Would deduplication by technological means necessarily imply lack of security?
  - daGrevis 14y ago
    I don't see how.
  - sarvinc 14y ago
    I'm not a security expert but wouldn't it mean that the files are not encrypted and thus exposed to security breaches?
peter_l_downs 14y ago
Who created this? It seems strange that it focuses on the negatives without offering up any alternatives.
aaronbrethorst 14y ago
Some speculation on Twitter about who's behind this: https://twitter.com/GlennF/status/310894891808993281 https://twitter.com/GlennF/status/310894891808993281
- arcatek 14y ago
  "@jcenters @ABillionSuns Has to be Microsoft or Google since Apple doesn’t offer Dropbox-like service and is not an idiot." ... Oh please ...
mannkind 14y ago
Almost every single 'issue' on this page is nonsensical FUD. 1&2 - Let's not trust Amazon's system but instead just some other random company! 3. Deduplication as an invasion of privacy? Last I checked it didn't work across users (as this ridiculous page suggests) for coming on a couple years now. … "... these aren't just problems that affect Dropbox" Yeah, the probably affect the vast majority of the cloud-based backup systems.
obilgic 14y ago
The main idea of this campaign is "First isn't always the best", very confusing...
goronbjorn 14y ago
This has got to be a smear campaign by a competitor. That last part > But keep in mind, these aren't just problems that affect Dropbox... these are problems that many online storage providers have. Make sure to find out if your online storage provider can answer these questions before you trust them to secure your data in the cloud. is particularly slimy.
- tiffh 14y ago
  It's a campaign by golden frog. One of my friends saw them at SXSW: http://www.goldenfrog.com/dumptruck http://www.goldenfrog.com/dumptruck
  - ArtemGordinsky 14y ago
    I guess you're right. The copy on their website feels like it was written by the same person: "Unlike other storage providers, Dump Truck doesn't rely on 3rd parties to store your data or use data deduplication to inspect your data to save on storage costs."
SCdF 14y ago
So I thought everyone was across this stuff, at least since it blew up on the net a couple of years ago. Dropbox is a really easy way to move files from one computer to another and to keep multiple computers syncronized. It's not particularly secure, and I wouldn't ever store work on it, or basically anything I'd be upset about being leaked to the net. It's also becoming a "default cloud" for iphone/android apps to use to make it easy for them to do synchronisation. If you want to store stuff in a cloud that you wish to stay secure (code, pictures of yourself naked, your amature fanfiction), and you want the kind of "drop it in a folder" ease of use that Dropbox has, the best bet is probably SpiderOak.
obilgic 14y ago
Kim Dotcom?
krichman 14y ago
You can trust exactly no one to secure your stuff, that's why you should encrypt it and have multiple backups at different sites (some of which might be cloud). Problem solved.
bsimpson 14y ago
Who's upvoting this? It's a nonsensical smear campaign, has been outed as such by every commenter in this thread, yet it's still making it to the front page. I've had a Dropbox Pro account since 2008, after trying both SugarSync and Syncplicity. Dropbox is the only one who's never corrupted my data. They're the only company I'd trust to backup my most important files. It's not worth $10 /month to risk years of work somewhere else.

24 points by blearyeyed 14y ago

Would be nice if this site actually listed alternative services that satisfy all of the criteria they are negative on Dropbox for. I am a big fan of Dropbox, but I do admit I REALLY wish they offered the option to at least encrypt certain directories within my account or even better the entire contents of it.

ableal 14y ago
The big one is #6, implying client side encryption. With that, most of the others are mitigated or irrelevant. The services I'm aware of with client side encryption are Wuala, SpiderOak and the controversial reborn Mega.
- rpgmaker 14y ago
  #7 is a good one too.

nsp 14y ago

Wow, this is some intense FUD. They criticize Dropbox for relying on S3 for data storage and Amazon for hosting, and using deduplication. "Does Dropbox store multiple copies of every file? Unknown. Dropbox doesn't state whether they keep multiple copies or not. But, we do know that Amazon charges less for 'reduced redundancy'. It is unclear if Dropbox stores more than one copy of your files." Anyone able to figure out who made this? It seems way too blatant and amateurish to be a competitor, but I don't know who else would have the motivation. WHOIS is private, and the FaceBook page didn't give me any yields either. There are legitimate reasons not to use Dropbox, but this is just a terrible attempt to spread panic.

unavoidable 14y ago
Would deduplication by technological means necessarily imply lack of security?
- daGrevis 14y ago
  I don't see how.
- sarvinc 14y ago
  I'm not a security expert but wouldn't it mean that the files are not encrypted and thus exposed to security breaches?

peter_l_downs 14y ago

Who created this? It seems strange that it focuses on the negatives without offering up any alternatives.

aaronbrethorst 14y ago

Some speculation on Twitter about who's behind this: https://twitter.com/GlennF/status/310894891808993281 https://twitter.com/GlennF/status/310894891808993281

arcatek 14y ago
"@jcenters @ABillionSuns Has to be Microsoft or Google since Apple doesn’t offer Dropbox-like service and is not an idiot." ... Oh please ...

mannkind 14y ago

Almost every single 'issue' on this page is nonsensical FUD. 1&2 - Let's not trust Amazon's system but instead just some other random company! 3. Deduplication as an invasion of privacy? Last I checked it didn't work across users (as this ridiculous page suggests) for coming on a couple years now. … "... these aren't just problems that affect Dropbox" Yeah, the probably affect the vast majority of the cloud-based backup systems.

obilgic 14y ago

The main idea of this campaign is "First isn't always the best", very confusing...

goronbjorn 14y ago

This has got to be a smear campaign by a competitor. That last part > But keep in mind, these aren't just problems that affect Dropbox... these are problems that many online storage providers have. Make sure to find out if your online storage provider can answer these questions before you trust them to secure your data in the cloud. is particularly slimy.

tiffh 14y ago
It's a campaign by golden frog. One of my friends saw them at SXSW: http://www.goldenfrog.com/dumptruck http://www.goldenfrog.com/dumptruck
- ArtemGordinsky 14y ago
  I guess you're right. The copy on their website feels like it was written by the same person: "Unlike other storage providers, Dump Truck doesn't rely on 3rd parties to store your data or use data deduplication to inspect your data to save on storage costs."

SCdF 14y ago

So I thought everyone was across this stuff, at least since it blew up on the net a couple of years ago. Dropbox is a really easy way to move files from one computer to another and to keep multiple computers syncronized. It's not particularly secure, and I wouldn't ever store work on it, or basically anything I'd be upset about being leaked to the net. It's also becoming a "default cloud" for iphone/android apps to use to make it easy for them to do synchronisation. If you want to store stuff in a cloud that you wish to stay secure (code, pictures of yourself naked, your amature fanfiction), and you want the kind of "drop it in a folder" ease of use that Dropbox has, the best bet is probably SpiderOak.

obilgic 14y ago

Kim Dotcom?

krichman 14y ago

You can trust exactly no one to secure your stuff, that's why you should encrypt it and have multiple backups at different sites (some of which might be cloud). Problem solved.

bsimpson 14y ago

Who's upvoting this? It's a nonsensical smear campaign, has been outed as such by every commenter in this thread, yet it's still making it to the front page. I've had a Dropbox Pro account since 2008, after trying both SugarSync and Syncplicity. Dropbox is the only one who's never corrupted my data. They're the only company I'd trust to backup my most important files. It's not worth $10 /month to risk years of work somewhere else.