3 Ways to Back Up and Secure Your Data

We are all dependent to some degree on our computers, and yet a large portion of the population pay little to no attention towards keeping their data backed up and secure. What we tend to forget is that all general hard drives, USB flash drives and memory cards can not only crash without prior notice, but they can also be easily hacked into. Depending on whether you are looking for military-grade security for your data, or just a simple guide to backing up your photos and documents in fear of a hard drive failure, at least one of the following three methods should prove to be useful.

The Cloud is Your Friend (Mostly!)

There is an abundant number of options for backing up and storing your data on the cloud these days and the most popular and trusted sources include Microsoft OneDrive, iCloud, Google Drive and Dropbox. You should be using at least one of these services to keep your computer’s data backed up onto the cloud on a regular basis. There are a lot of other services available as alternatives to the reputed ones, but unless you are really sure about the company, it’s best to stick with the big names for peace of mind.

Use an Encrypted Flash Drive

Flash drives are easy to use and easy to hack at the same time, but that’s not quite the case when it comes to encrypted storage devices. If you use something like the SecureUSB encrypted flash drive from Secure Data Recovery, the data in it will be protected from every possible security threat; just check out some of the protection it offers below.

• Military grade XTS-AES 256-bit hardware encryption on the 7 -15-digit PIN code access interface
• It has its own keyboard, powered by a rechargeable battery to prevent code theft from a compromised, external keyboard
• Automatic lock on being disconnected from any connected device
• Real-time hardware encryption engine protects it against unauthorized access, when stolen or lost

Of course, this is the highest grade of protection that anyone can use for their data, so it’s mostly used for transporting sensitive corporate/government data, but if you have something that could use the cutting-edge protection it offers to everything inside it, there’s no one stopping you from getting one for personal use either.

The External Hard Drive

If backing up all your data on a local drive is what you are looking for, then just buy an external backup drive and use the software to back things up from your main hard drive regularly. Preferably, you should use a device with at least basic encryption protection to protect the data inside it from unauthorized access. Storing your data locally has some definite advantages as you can check out below, but there’s always the risk that it too can fail!

• You don’t have to depend on and trust a third party to back up and protect your data
• It’s a lot cheaper in the long run as there’s no cloud subscription fee, and internet usage is completely unnecessary

An expert’s recommendation would be to use the daily and automatic service of a reputed cloud storage company to back up your regular data, but it’s best to keep all your sensitive data secured on an encrypted hard drive or flash drive for added security.