What would be the most Secure Online Backup Storage?

[connect4]

There are plenty of Online Backup Storages website:
Ex: Xdrive, Mozy, etc etc.


However, does anyone know which company offers easy convenient online backup + the best security?



Some companies I have looked a little into:

Comodo Online Security: Appears okay.

SwissDisk seems very secure, and I was really leaning towards them: however they have a C+ on BBB, and I saw many bad ratings 3 out of 10, 4 out of 10 on this review website. If anyone can recommend this company please do so.

Please share your experiences with these and any other companies in regards to online backup and security:

[JRViejo]

connect4, perhaps this previous Wilders thread: Do you know any online backup storage? could provide the info, plus several Members' opinions, that you are seeking.

[connect4]

Thank you for the Link, although I already read that thread. I started this new thread because I wanted to emphasize on security and encryption in regards to online backup services VS storage in general...

Also I wanted to see if anyone has any experience with SwissDisk, which would be very helpful.

[JRViejo]

connect4, glad you saw that thread, and hope that a Member responds to your SwissDisk inquiry soon. Take care.

[Capp]

RemoteDataBackups is a really easy to use and very secure online backup solution.

We are partners with them and I use it on my work computer and my home system as well.

[n8chavez]

From my experience having tried many services I can completely recommend both Humyo and Sugarsync. There advantages and disadvantages to both, which you can see from this thread. Essentially, they both offer good security; 256-bit SSL. Unless of course you are meaning more concepts than just that by using the word "security". I give the edge to Humyo, for reasons I will discuss with you further should you want me to.

[ashishtx]

It all depends on how you want to use? I do not want to backup everything therefore I use online network drive such as Jungle disk plus it also has a traditional backup module. I have used mozy and you cannot go wrong with it but there is no way to access that data via computer other than primary computer , so I went with jungle disk. There are lots of option for online backup and the security is as secure as online banking.

[connect4]

Thank you for all the replies guys, very helpful information

Originally Posted by n8chavez

From my experience having tried many services I can completely recommend both Humyo and Sugarsync. There advantages and disadvantages to both, which you can see from this thread. Essentially, they both offer good security; 256-bit SSL. Unless of course you are meaning more concepts than just that by using the word "security". I give the edge to Humyo, for reasons I will discuss with you further should you want me to.

Great link! Thanks n8chavez!

[connect4]

Originally Posted by ashishtx

... There are lots of option for online backup and the security is as secure as online banking.

ashishtx, how do you know if a particular online backup company is as secure as a bank?

Are we looking for, I believe its called SSL encryption? I also hear a lot about AES 256 encryption which is "military grade or so" level of security.

But how do you really know when you upload a file / files, that it really truly is safe?

[ashishtx]

IF you are uploading the file via web interface than the most basic thing is to lock for the lock sign(HTTPS). Click on the lock sign for more information and see how strong is the encryption ( 128 bit or 256 bit). Majority of company will encrypt the data once it is at their data center but encryption during transportation of the file is very important which is usually at 128 bit. When you perform the backup using mozy or other software based interface on your local computer, it is encrypted using their proprietary software and than uploaded to their server.

[KookyMan]

Not to flame, troll, or other stuff, but, I must always say I chuckle when I see questions similar to this.

It's like asking: "What guy on the street should I trust giving my credit card to?" The "Most Secure" Backup Solution is one that you control from beginning to end. Once you entrust your data to anyone, you have done just that, trusting that whoever you gave it to will not do anything, or will do what they promise.

With the price of hard drives dropping like they are (I just bought a FreeAgent|GO [320GB] portable hard drive, dock, and case for $100) the average person can have a very portable backup for very little. Encrypt your data to the drive, and leave it with a family member or a neighbor (say in a lock box). That gives you cheap, off site(granted not good for natural disasters, but for your average breaking and entering) backups. At this point, you are entrusting your neighbor to a lock box and a hard drive. Worst case scenario, they steal the drive. Ok, if you encrypted your data on it, they can't use it, they've just gotten the hardware, and now you know what kind of neighbor you have.

Oh, and as long as your neighbor doesn't charge you rent, its a one time fee. At least until you need a bigger drive.

[estra]

Allmydata is also another choice.

It is built upon a secure Tahoe-LAFS platform.

[Dregg Heda]

Hi KookyMan,

What if you were to encrypt the data before backing it up to the online storage? Then the people behind your storage solution would have no idea what you've stored. As safe as encrypting and giving it to your neighbours imo.

[KookyMan]

Encrypting prior to uploading does help secure it, I can't refute that. But also in this day and age of 'fast life' businesses, you also have to take into account the possibility of your backup provider going out of business unexpectedly.

One other aspect you have to be concerned with regarding online backups is amount of Data your backing up. If your encrypting your files prior to upload, it becomes much more bandwidth costly because you can (most likely) no longer upload difs, but entire files since depending on the encryption, you'll either have to encrypt each file individually (takes awhile and would be a pain to recover) or you encrypt the entire lot at once, you'll be uploading a lot of data every time since it would most likely be difficult to upload a diff on.

With some ISPs now capping total throughput, it could become impossible or much more costly to do use online provider. Depending on how much you need to keep stored remotely, and how often it is updated/you have to transmit it up to the online provider, you could theoretically run into a problem if you need to download your archive but doing so would push you over your throughput limit.) Not to mention uploading at 2Mb/s or less depnding on your provider. (According to Google: (1 GB) / (2 (megabits / second)) = 1.13777778 hours)

[Dregg Heda]

Hi KookyMan,

You certainly do raise some good points. Thanks for your response!

[n8chavez]

KookyMan - You've missing some very important features here. Some "backup" services do more than just back up data, they sync data (making sure that system that are linked each have a copy of the data, have the ability to share data, automatically backup changes, edit documents online, and even stream data. None of that can be done with just using an external drive. With services such as these users have access to their data wherever they are, via web access or mobile access. I can send business documents or school notes to anyone that asks as soon as they ask from my smartphone. Can that be done with your method? No. Can users have access to their entire media library wherever they are with your method? No. That all being the case I'm not seeing why you chose to incite panic over possibilities. That makes no sense at all. That is an equivalent of keeping your money in a mattress instead of an insured bank. For your sake then, your house better not burn down.

Initial backups are a pain, no matter what service you use. But after that the bandwidth burden is minimal.

Enter no agreement lightly. Do research of the company first. Make sure then have "staying power" and are secure; such as Humyo, SugarSync or S3. Other than that don't worry yourself or others .needlessly.

[Osaban]

Originally Posted by n8chavez

Do research of the company first. Make sure then have "staying power" and are secure; such as Humyo, SugarSync or S3. Other than that don't worry yourself or others .needlessly.

I was looking for online backup storage, and I should emphasize that security of the data is not an issue as basically my purpose is to have somewhere to upload stuff so that I can share it with others by just sending a link.

I've trialled 2 companies SugarSync and ADrive. I had a negative experience with SugarSync, first because in order to trial the service one has to give them the credit card number which they would use after the 30 day trial. Their 'sync'
business turned out to be very chaotic with my computers and to upload anything it would take ages. In the end to uninstall their software from my XP computers was not a problem, with my Vista machine I had to re image my system. Too complicated for me, and they have my credit card number without being a customer.

ADrive is very simple in comparison, nothing to install and they have a free solution which for the time being is very effective. To remain on topic their free solution is not encrypted (you have to pay 7 $ a month to have encryption) so for people who have sensitive material is not suitable.

I also think that what they charge is excessive considering the price of USB Drives nowadays.