SpiderOak is a US-based

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online backup A remote, online, or managed backup service, sometimes marketed as cloud backup or backup-as-a-service, is a service that provides users with a system for the backup, storage, and recovery of computer files. Online backup providers are companies ...

and file hosting service that allows users to access, synchronize and share data using a

cloud-based Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage (cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over mult ...

server, offered by a company of the same name. Its first offering, its online backup service later branded "SpiderOak ONE", launched in December 2007. SpiderOak is accessible through an app for

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, Mac and

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s, and Android, N900 Maemo and

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mobile platforms. According to SpiderOak, the software uses encrypted cloud storage and

client-side encryption Client-side encryption is the cryptographic technique of encrypting data on the sender's side, before it is transmitted to a server such as a cloud storage service. Client-side encryption features an encryption key that is not available to the servi ...

key creation, so SpiderOak employees cannot access users' information. SpiderOak differentiates itself from its competition by this kind of encryption, in provision for syncing files and folders across multiple devices, and in automatic de-duplication of data. Some components of SpiderOak are open-source; in 2009, the company announced its intent for the SpiderOak One client's code to be fully open-source in the future. , the SpiderOak One client's source code is only available open-source for mobile platforms, with no current plans to make the desktop client's code open-source. SpiderOak used to provide an open-source password manager named Encryptr, which was discontinued in March 2021. The source code for SpiderOak's group messaging application Semaphor is published to allow auditing.

History

SpiderOak was founded in 2007 by Ethan Oberman and Alan Fairless as an encrypted private backup program. In 2013, SpiderOak began developing the Crypton framework, "a JavaScript framework for building applications where the server doesn't know the contents it's storing on behalf of users." Crypton is an open-source project allowing developers to easily add

encryption In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. Ideally, only authorized parties can decip ...

security to mobile applications. By mid-2014, according to Oberman, SpiderOak had near 1 million users. As of 2014, SpiderOak was headquartered in Chicago and employed 42 staff, headed by CEO Alan Fairless. Around the same time, the company had offices in Chicago and Kansas City, and was hiring remote employees inside and outside of the US. In 2015, SpiderOak raised $3.5 million in

Series A A series A round (also known as series A financing or series A investment) is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture capital financing. The name refers to the class of preferred stock sold to investors in exc ...

funding, bringing its total funding to around $9 million. In February 2017, SpiderOak discontinued using the phrase "zero knowledge" to describe their service following public criticism that the phrase conflicted with the mechanism behind cryptographic zero-knowledge proofs. SpiderOak adopted the phrase "no knowledge" for their marketing. In November 2017, founder Alan Fairless was replaced as CEO by Christopher Skinner, who announced that the company would be expanding into enterprise software, partially funded by a $2 million

Series B round A venture round is a type of funding round used for venture capital financing, by which startup companies obtain investment, generally from venture capitalists and other institutional investors. The availability of venture funding is among the ...

. On August 1, 2018, the

warrant canary A warrant canary is a method by which a communications service provider aims to inform its users that the provider has been served with a government subpoena despite legal prohibitions on revealing the existence of the subpoena. The warrant canar ...

on SpiderOak's website briefly vanished, followed by some system

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. It was then replaced by a transparency report. Five days later, the canary was re-signed using GPG encryption. By August 9, Spideroak had also updated their transparency report, making a statement concerning the canary. It is impossible to tell if the change was internally driven or canary was tripped and the company has been compelled by court order to hide the fact.

Main features

* All data accessible in one de-duplicated location * Configurable multi-platform synchronization * Preserve all historical versions and deleted files * Share folders in web ShareRooms with

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notifications * Retrieve files from any internet-connected device * Claimed "no knowledge" data encryption if you ''only'' use the desktop client, that is, no sharing, web-access, or mobile access. This claim, however, cannot be confirmed due to the client being closed source * Unlimited devices * A combination of 2048-bit RSA and 256-bit AES

References

External links

*
Review in Notebookreview

''MacLife'' Editors Choice Article
*
Review in OnlineBackupDeals

SpiderOak Review: Cloud Storage
{{File hosting service File hosting Data synchronization Cross-platform software Cloud storage File hosting for Linux File hosting for macOS File hosting for Windows Companies' terms of service

History

Main features

See also

References

External links