Online data backup dangers, tips

HOUSTON – We are living in a digital world, which means that you almost certainly store thousands of family photos and other personal data to your home computer. Reason why it is often a good suggestion to have your hard disk drive backed up, but it is usually a good suggestion to do it in a technique that protects your privacy.

Websites like Drop Box , Mozy and Carbonite make it easy to store your files online. A few of them may also automatically upload your computer’s data to the internet for normal backups. While a majority of these services are convenient and feature lots of security in place, you should be acquainted with the hazards.

Earlier this week, DropBox.com admitted that an employee’s password was stolen , allowing someone on the web to log in and get the e-mail addresses for a small choice of its customers. This person was then ready to decide the passwords for a small variety of Drop Box users, giving them access to private data.

It wasn’t a hacker who got into this personal data. It was simply someone who was ready to track down the Drop Box users’ passwords.

Since then, Drop Box launched new safety features to assist prevent this from happening again, but there is a lesson here for we all: never use the similar password on multiple websites; include numbers or unique characters for your passwords; change your passwords every few months.

What about backing up your data beyond online services? Maybe you’d feel better about keeping the information at your residence? Often, home burglary suspects will seek for laptops, hard drives, CDs and USB drives, hoping there may be valuable information on them.

Here are a couple of find out how to lower your expenses and keep your data safe:

>> Keep your files organized and in a single place in your computer (i.e. in a folder like “My Documents” as this makes it easier to regularly back up files)
>> Use a USB cable to download your smart phone photos and other data; also put these in My Documents
>> Put each of the files on an external harddisk, a USB drive, or on DVD/CD
>> Hide the backup files at your residence or place them in a hearth safe
>> Back up your computer once a month

Following these steps keeps your information safe without the monthly cost of a web backup service. And as an aspect note, no, you do not need to head out and purchase $30 backup software. So long as you retain your files organized, it is very easy to make a backup.

Questions? Comments? Reach out to me: facebook.com/KHOUDougDelony / Twitter @DougDelonyKHOU

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