Full FeedCucku: Social Backup - Are they serious?
I’m sorry, but I just wonder, is this entire thing just someone’s idea of “Just how far can we take this and people will think we’re serious?” I mean, the name itself. Who came up with it? You have got to be kidding me.
Okay. For those who aren’t aware…Cucku is a “Social Backup Service” that runs on Windows machines. It was available to select beta users since February of this year, and its 1.20 version just became available for all to download yesterday. You want to make all your personal files oh so safe? Well then, all you have to do according to Cucku (oh, that just makes me roll my eyes each time I type it), is back up all of your data to your friend’s computer. Oh, and in return, they back up all their work onto yours. You are “back-up buddies.” Isn’t that special?
I mean, let’s not look at the fact that you are now opening your files up to any viruses and crashes that your “buddy” may incur. Or that what if your buddy happens to be a pedophile and is transferring those files onto your computer? Or what if you need to get to your files because your computer crashed and your buddy is having the time of his life in Vegas and has his system shut down for two weeks while he is gone? And these are just some “what if’s.”
Now, to the pluses that Cucku spouts about their product. They claim there is no throttling of speed on the free version. It is based on a “Pro” version which will allow you to backup multiple computers. They say it runs 58% faster than the beta version when it comes to backup speeds.
“There’s no need to purchase an expensive hosted backup service, just backup the way it should be – easy, trustworthy and free. Social backup offers the same peace-of-mind provided by hosted online backup solutions, without the pitfalls. With Cucku you can get together with your partner for high-speed initial remote backup or restore, this just isn’t possible with a datacenter.” - Cucku Press Release
According to feedback across the ‘Net, many find this view laughable. One reader responded on a techcrunch article about the service, “This technology seems pointless to me. The chances of your friend’s hardrive [sic] being destroyed or infiltrated and corrupted by viruses is much higher than a web-based corporation’s servers being contaminated….” Many other readers seemed to take great joy in pointing out what the name meant in other languages. Apparently, it means “idiot” in Hebrew and “simple minded” in French.
What do you think? Is this a service you would use? Or do you think they chose the perfect name after all?
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If you have a backup buddy that your really, really trust - maybe.
But, otherwise you would be cuckoo to use Cucku! It may avoid some pitfalls, but I can think of many you didn’t mention that it creates. Is your data secure? My home computer has information on it that I probably don’t want even my best friend to have access to. What happens if your buddy erases your backup?
And if you are talking about a home office - you’d have to be more than cuckoo to consider an arrangement like that!
There are so many other solutions, I just can’t imagine why someone would even consider it.
on September 20, 2008 at 11:01 AM - LINKRob Ellison from Cucku here. I just wanted to point out a couple of inaccurate points in this article.
Before Cucku sends any files to your backup partner the files are encrypted. This means your partner can’t access the files or even tell what the original filenames were - you only need to trust them to share some space with you. It also means that it’s impossible to transmit a virus or malware infection through Cucku.
Cucku creates a full local backup in addition to the remote backup. The local backup uses an external hard drive if available. You’d need to lose the original data, the local backup and the remote backup at the same time to have a problem - not very likely. As you mention we’ll also be shipping a version that supports multiple partners in the near future.
I’m sorry you don’t like the name. See http://www.cucku.com/blog/2008/05/why-cucku.aspx for an explanation. We are serious, and for many people we’re a great choice for remote backup.
Oh, and Faultline Communications is our PR agency. We’re not a division of Faultline.
on September 20, 2008 at 01:55 PM - LINKRobert, I never stated or implied that the process of sending ones files could allow you to get a virus. I said if your “buddies” computer becomes infected, your files are also now on that system…encrypted or not. Do you mean to state that because your files are encrypted through cucku’s service that that makes them safe from any virus, trojan, malware, or crashes on your buddies system? I also didn’t mention that your buddy had access to your files. In fact, that is why I implied you may not even KNOW what your buddy is sending, and all of a sudden find yourself liable if the feds come knocking at your door for kiddie pics.
I stand corrected on the Faultline Communication reference.
on September 20, 2008 at 02:17 PM - LINKSorry about the “Faultline Communications” part. The reference has been removed for accuracy.
on September 20, 2008 at 04:58 PM - LINKJodie, thanks for fixing the statement about Faultline.
I got the sense from the article that you were concerned that you files might be infected with a virus. This isn’t possible - the encryption prevents either partner from becoming infected. The possibility of loosing a partner (because their computer is infected, or they’re off to Vegas) is why we’re working on multiple-partner support. The main reason I commented is that I didn’t want people to get the impression that there was a virus risk.
on September 20, 2008 at 07:24 PM - LINKMaybe I’m impartial because I dont like to share whats on my computer, but this just sounds like a very bad idea. I can see good intentions from it, but I would NEVER consider using this ‘product’. The idea that my information would be backed up on a server outside of the destination I had it intended for is ludicrous. I dont understand why it would need to be ‘backed up’ on the product’s own servers. With hackers taking bites out of whatever they can get their hands on, this is just a scary way to backup your stuff, even if your files are encrypted.
on September 26, 2008 at 03:04 PM - LINKHeya… I just happened upon this page because I’m checking out Cucku and looking for reviews. I’ve used online backup services and I must say I think Cucku is a good idea for the reasons they state.
The virus point is moot—you can’t infect encrypted files. They’re not executable. A virus on your partner’s computer *could* wipe out his/her whole computer including the encrypted files but you can’t actually infect the encrypted data because you can’t actually execute data either. It’s not code. At worst a virus could inject junk into encrypted file but it wouldn’t actually be a virus because it wouldn’t be able to replicate or actually do anything—certainly nothing more than it can do on its own just by virtue of having made it onto the comptuer.
Also the kiddie porn point is moot—the data is encrypted so if you have encrypted kiddie porn sitting on your computer and the feds (just happen to) raid you, neither you nor they would ever even know it. Read up on encryption if you like—it takes massssssssive amounts of computing power to crack standard public encryption levels. It’s just not hackable.
Your third point about your friends computer being more liable to get hacked than a data center going down or getting hacked—I disagree with the gist. I’m gonna use my father as my partner. I know that he’ll always be around. I definitely know that I’ll know him for longer than I’ll know most data centers. If a data center goes down, my backup software might even not alert me. I might never find out. If my dad gets hacked or has a disk failure, I’d know about it.
And your fourth criticism is about the name. C’mon. You’re picking on the name?
So with all due respect I can’t say I’ve found any legit gripe. The third point is admittedly debatable but the points about kiddie porn and viruses are quite conclusively technically false. I think you may have thought that the data is only encrypted in transport (via SSL), but what they’re saying is it’s encrypted on your machine before it’s even sent, and it stays encrypted at the other end.
Peace
Shiraz
on March 20, 2009 at 01:05 AM - LINKI agree with most of the comments here. This review is inaccurate. The person who wrote it, doesn’t seem to have a grasp on the concept or the technology behind it. This program is quite useful and has its place on the internet.
on August 16, 2009 at 07:19 PM - LINKI’m surprised at the immediate ‘nastiness’ of the initial reviewer; why so hard hitting from the start? Shiraz’s comments seem a lot more balanced and accurate. I’ve started using cucku (a bird that lays its eggs in another birds nest… seems an appropriate metaphor) though it may not fully meet what I want to do as far as backups are concerned. Still, I think it is a clever and valid concept, particularly with the ‘seeding’ option.
on September 15, 2009 at 07:11 PM - LINKLinda Lynch missed the fact that the data is encrypted, not the original reviewer.
Remember, one off-site store is free, it only costs money with multiple off-site stores. So, as Shiraz trusts his/her father more than some company that could go bust, if you shell out some cash you could have multiple off-site stores.
Anyway, keep going Rob and Cucku. Happy to see such a cost effective method of getting a safe backup out there for the little guy.