In this episode, Marty and Damashe discuss the ins and outs of iCloud encryption. Damashe explains the difference between regular encryption and advanced data protection, and the implications of each. He also discusses alternative options for those who may not want to use iCloud encryption, such as using a UB key or storing sensitive information in a secure note within iCloud Keychain. Marty and Damashe also touch on the importance of two-factor authentication and being mindful of what information is stored on cloud services. Damashe also mentions how Apple Watch can be used as an authenticator for added convenience. Overall, the main takeaway from the episode is the importance of not forgetting passwords when using advanced data protection, as it can result in losing access to all stored data. Please note that the following is an automatic generated transcript using AI. Any errors or discrepancies may occur.

Michael: [0:07] Welcome back to another Unmute podcast. Happy Thursday. I am here with Marty and we have a special guest here. How goes it Marty?

Marty: [0:16] Pretty good. Hey all, how's it going? Well, today we do have a special guest, friend of the show and personal friend of ours, Damasi say hello.

Damashe: [0:25] Good afternoon. Happy Thursday to everybody.

Marty: [0:28] So today we're going to be talking about encryption, specifically iCloud encryption, which was introduced about a month or so ago in a recent update. So Damasi, do you want to start with explaining what this is and how it works?

Damashe: [0:48] Yep, so in December, and I am a terrible, terrible preparer, because I don't know the exact date but I do know when iOS 16.2 was released, iPad OS 16.2, Mac OS 13.1 and whatever version of audio OS for the HomePod and tvOS is out. They were all updated in December. With those updates Apple introduced what they call advanced data protection for iCloud. And what this really means at its bare bones is that Apple is giving you the ability, to now take control of holding your own encryption keys so that they no longer have access to the things that you have stored in iCloud, that they previously had access to. This does get a little down in the weeds a bit because there's data Apple has always never had access to. So your health data, your keychain data, if you use iCloud keychain, they've never been able to access that data. They've never had access to it. They've never had the encryption keys to that stuff from day one that they introduced it. However, they're bringing those protections forward to other services, which include iCloud Drive, your photos, and some app data, depending on whether or not the developers choose to take advantage of the APIs that are exposed for them.

Marty: [2:16] Well, maybe we can take a step back just for a quick sec and for those maybe who don't know or maybe don't understand Maybe we can explain what exactly encryption is.

Damashe: [2:28] Encryption is at a very basic point, and excuse me, anybody that really gets down and understands this a lot, but to kind of simplify it the way I explain it to people is encryption is scrambling your electronic data so that it cannot be read by someone who does not have the key. And you can think of the key simply as a password. You know, that's simplifying it a little bit, but you can think of your key as a password. So a very quick example, if I have a file on my computer, just a regular plain text file, and I write in my credit card number and all of that information, social security number, if I wanna make sure no one else but me can read that file, then I am going to encrypt that file with some piece of software that will basically scramble that data. So if anyone comes along and opens up that file, all they'll get is gibberish. The only way to get that file back