Don’t Risk Losing All Your Encrypted and Cloud Data: Back It Up Now
Summary
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Encryption guarantees confidentiality and data security, preventing unauthorized access.
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Maintain the backups of encrypted and cloud data to prevent permanent loss, depending on the 3-2-1 rule.
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Use a NAS for a secure and customizable backup destination.
You should keep your data encrypted, both on your devices and in the cloud. But, you put it in danger if you do not have a backup.
Encryption is a must to protect your confidentiality and safety
About everyone transports their vital data with them to their phones and laptops. Consequently, someone else who gets their hands on your device means that he has access to all precious banking information, private messages and interesting photos stored on it. It is not even necessary that it is a thief who seeks to scam you, the people you know can have motivations to make the imbropi of your files. Data stored in the Cloud on services like iCloud and OneDrive could also be exposed in a violation of the service provider or pilot if someone has access to your account.
Encryption prevents it: when the data is encrypted, only the person having the key to decipher, he can read it. In some cases, this key is unlocked using your device’s access code; In others, you get the key yourself. Anyway, there is an additional level of security between your data and the outside world. It is considered the best practice to encrypt your data wherever it can leave your control.
You must make sure you have your own copies of your data and keys
There are a few things you need to do to make sure you never lose access to your encrypted and cloud data. Building only on the cloud to store data means that if you use access to your account, you lose all stored data. Likewise, if you lose your encryption key, the data it protects will be forever unreadable and effectively destroyed.
Some OneDrive users know this problem: if a user loses access to his Microsoft account, they will lose access to all their data in OneDrive. In other situations, people have lost their Bitlocker encryption keys that have been stored in their Microsoft account and, due to a change in configuration of the system triggering the need to reintegrate the key to decipher their PC, all their data, even if they were stored locally.
Protecting yourself from these data loss events is simple and old -fashioned: keep your own additional copies of all your important files on an external hard drive. If you can store this reader in a secure location (such as a safe), you could even decide to keep it uncleless. If you encrypt it, keep a copy of the key in your possession.
The best way to save your vital data
The advantages of the backup extend beyond the protection of encryption errors and cloud errors: your data is protected from ransomware and malicious software if it is saved on a separate device which is not always connected, called “ cold storage ”. If you store your backups in a different physical place, they are also protected in the event of a disaster such as fire or floods.
If you save regularly and use incremental backups, you can also return to the previous versions of your files, in case you accidentally make an error like deleting the conclusion to your novel which will soon be famous.
It is not because there are risks of use of the cloud services that they are not an appropriate backup destination for encrypted backups, as long as you also keep your own copy of your data and your encryption keys. Cloud backups can be part of a backup plan which follows the 3-2-1 recommended rule: 3 backups, in 2 different formats, in more than 1 location.
A NAS is a perfect backup destination
A NAS is a perfect backup destination and a file storage solution. Configure your devices to save your NAS and configure network shares for file storage, then you have a single storage location to save. You can configure your NAS to save an external hard drive for your own outfit, then support it at the cloud. If your NAS supports the RAID, you are also protected from a hard drive failure. I keep two trunas systems synchronized in two different places, which can be exaggerated, but I know that my data is safe.
A NAS device is also delivered with other uses, and is an excellent investment for all those who are ready to invest time to install it. You can host your own cloud services or start experimenting with Docker and the thousands of applications it provides.
