One step forward – two steps back.

As reported by AppleInsider, Apple’s iPhone 2.0 software enables secure erasure of your personal data, however, it also moves Apple away from iSync compatibility and into their own little cloud of interoperability.

Remember iSync?

Back when Palm dominated the PDA world, and Apple had zero inkling of their own phone hardware, they got the bright idea to make hooks in the software to sync phone numbers, addresses, calendars, notes and more between Apple computers (remember those?) and phones and PDAs from other companies.

Chat Much? Is it secure?

Declan McCullagh has a great overview of the security of Chat. And by chat, I mean computer and cell phone instant messaging.

The question of whether your IM chat is secure is really several questions:
Are you wireless, and is the wireless connection secure?
If you are wired, was there a secure log on?
Does it provide complete encryption?

If you’re discussing your thoughts on the latest action film, the security probably isn’t top of mind. But if you use IM for business and discuss proprietary ideas, work-for-hire, or use it to get other sensitive information- like logins or passwords to something else, then the security of your chat is paramount.