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Security in "the Cloud"


gawguy

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How about we get some of the sensitive files off the harddrives and put them in the cloud?

 

In Dropbox, perhaps?

 

From online Mag PC Mechanic:

 

"You get 2 gigs for free and you can pay for more... I just started using Dropbox to store my encrypted password file for 1Password. It is accessible from both of my Macs, my Ipad, and even my Android phone. This kind of cross-platform, universal support is the major selling point for Dropbox."

 

They claim their security is the best possible. Given that there's a million little gifted Chinese, Russian, Korean and American hackers clikking away at this second, how do you feel about the suggestions here? I'm leaning towards taking them up.

 

Thanks,

Gaw Guy

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I use 'the cloud' quite heavily for office data.

 

In regard to data it depends what you are looking for. It is just for a cheap solution for to back up your data, and you won't touch the data except in case of problems I would recommend Mozy.com. I use Mozy at home. Mozy it is probably the cheapest service, if you have many gigabytes to back up. But Mozy takes time to recover data from their servers, and you can't access the data via a web interface. On the other hand it is very secure and reliable.

 

At the office I use Jungledisk for to back up around 80GB of data. Jungledisk seems to be faster than Mozy (for upload and download), also you can customize it much better and access is much easier. But it is more expensive if you have a lot of gigabytes of files.

 

If you just want to upload your data to the web without the need to have real backup (which won't be touched and with file versioning that is) and maybe for to sync it with other PC's you can either use Dropbox.com or Sugarsync.com (I prefer Sugarsync). I sync several Mac's and PC's with Sugarsync and it has a great web interface for to accres all data (download, send via email, delete, e.g.), which regularly use from home.

 

All three services are very reliable - I have never experienced any downtime.

 

In regard to security: Sugarsync and Dropbox uses SSL - which can theoretically be attacked with a 'Man in the Middle' attack, but this is extremely unlikely. It the same security you use for online banking and online shopping.

 

Jungledisk and Mozy seem to have stronger security. The files are encrypted on the server. This means that even if a hacker hacks the server where the data are stored and downloads the files he can't read them.

 

Today Jungledisk seems to be the most complete offer, because it offers backup, sharing and web access. The files are stored on Amazon's S3 servers, which are used by major companies around the world - thus they must be pretty secure.

 

My recommendation: If security and ease of use is more important than price, I would recommend Jungledisk. If you want just basic, cheap backup I would go for Mozy.

 

By the way, if you just want to store your passwords securely in the cloud, just use Passpack.com (it's free up to 100 passwords). I use it since over a year. They have a desktop interface as well, in case you don't have internet access.

 

I almost forgot: in regard to Russian and Chinese hackers. A very strong password is the key.

Create strong passwords

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Okay Kamui I see I've connected with the right person for this. You have given me some options and Mozy Home is certainly inexpensive. The thing that would concern me is the longterm stability of whichever service I would use, i.e. I need it to be there in 5 years, 10, 20. The author of the article in PC Mechanic recommends Dropbox based on size of user base which means longevity. Also it has a lot of synching capabilities with different applications. Pls have a look at this article and see if there is anything new in it and if, in light of the article, it seems better than Mozy http://www.pcmech.com/article/10-awesome-yet-not-so-obvious-uses-for-dropbox/.

(It may not show in the link but it's called "10 Awesome yet no so obvious uses for dropbox")

 

Thanks,

GG

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I've used DropBox for a few months and I am incredibly happy with its service (mind you I am using this client on both iPhone, iPad and on my laptop). It's a superb collaboration tool more than anything else.

 

I personally would NEVER store private data in the cloud unless the entire container is encrypted and there is strong authentication available.

 

Go with DropBox, but don't store anything you cannot risk exposing (goes for any of the services mentioned).

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I've used DropBox for a few months and I am incredibly happy with its service (mind you I am using this client on both iPhone, iPad and on my laptop). It's a superb collaboration tool more than anything else.

 

I personally would NEVER store private data in the cloud unless the entire container is encrypted and there is strong authentication available.

 

Go with DropBox, but don't store anything you cannot risk exposing (goes for any of the services mentioned).

 

For security I would highly recommend Jungledisk. The data will be encrypted in a container and only the user has the key to it.

 

In regard to Dropbox: don't confuse syncing of several devices with backups. If you sync a file and delete it on one device Dropbox will delete the file on all other devices as well. That's why I use Sugarsync (sharing) and Jungledisk (backup, but Jungledisk offers syncing as well) separately.

 

As for longevity: Do NOT go with companies like Dropbox who just have one major product. They could close their doors tomorrow. Again my recommendation: go with Jungledisk. They don't use their own servers, but Amazon's S3 servers. Since S3 servers are used by major companies around the world, it is much more likely that Amazon or its successor will still exist in a decade or so.

 

Anyway, If you need a *really* reliable backup solution, you need at least three different services. That's what every security expert says.

 

In our case:

- Jungledisk for backup

- Sugarsync for syncing and a simple backup

- Apple's Time Capsule for a hardware based backup.

 

In case of a major data loss, at least one of services should work. Never trust a single service. The probability that it is not configured correctly, that the server was down for minute, that the backup software has a glitch, whatever, is just too high.

 

Also, what ever service you use: after the initial back up try at least one data recovery for to learn how it works and for to be sure that it is set up properly.

 

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You really should read your user agreement. Anything you put in the "cloud" you no longer own.

Also extremely interesting. Thank you.

 

I'm putting up another post about storage using email..so I hope you and the other lads will have something to say to that one.

 

Thanks,

GG

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