Hi guys, can you share how you make sure your cloud (I use dropbox) is not being accessed by anyone else / compromised? – aside from coming up with a unique / really good PW? I use close as my storage for my photos and other work files since I go from one place to another everyday. I don’t have nude photos or embarrassing photos, but I still do not want to happen to me, what happened to those Hollywood stars.
I’m quite happy with BoxCryptor…
You can change your password as often as you like - as long as your files are not encrypted in the cloud storage, there’s always at least one party that can access your confidential files without your knowledge or consent: The cloud service staff - do you know who works for them? Well, I don’t and therefore I see no reason to trust them.
And if your cloud service is hosted in the US or UK, most likely all intelligence services of the western world have access to your files as well. Storing confidential data in a cloud storage without encryption is grossly negligent IMHO.
BoxCryptor encrypts and decrypts all files on the fly on opening/closing. No file is ever saved unencrypted to your hard drive or your cloud service. So, even if e. g. your notebook is stolen or lost, there is no access to your files for unauthorized persons without the password (or significant amounts of decryption time). If you wish, the filenames and types get encrypted beyond recognition as well, so that others can’t even guess what kind of file it is and if it’s worth at all to spend time on breaking through the encryption.
The encryption is compatible to EncFS, so you can access your BoxCryptor files from Linux, too.
If you need to use “external storage facilities” of any kind to temporarily store files as you move from place to place, then you will either need to encrypt those files, or you will need to use a different (perhaps, not quite so “convenient” …) form of storage. Or, more likely, both at once.
But also, carefully weigh these concerns against “pragmatic reality.” What are the actual odds, that someone will actually stumble upon your storage-location, with the specific and purposeful and diabolical intention of purloining … your stuff? Every heads-up coin has its tails-down side, and you simply need to keep heads and tails in balance.
Set up a server and run your own cloud using owncloud.
Otherwise, it all comes down to trust.
In reality, nobody actually cares about your stuff online.
except for commercial marketing enterprises that are interested in your interest.
You can always do the basics. Make certain that your settings are set to private and also make sure that your computer is free of malware and does not store login records. Very important thing is to log out whenever you leave your computer which is not just by merely closing your browser. Log out properly. These are the basic things you can do to protect yourself from hackers or those people who has nothing GOOD to do.
Well, there is a lot of truth in what Swene said. Nobody really cares about my files in dropbox. lol
Thank you, guys, though for all the input. I am going to check out boxcryptor and owncloud. Sounds interesting. I am confused about encryption of files. Is that the service that is being offered by netskope? So, if I want to encrypt my files, I have to spend on a service to do so? What about simply putting a password on an excel or work file and a PW is needed to open them? Does that work the same? I am actually just worried about the database and the articles that I submit - you know, nobody really believes that plagiarism is a crime and people will copy your work especially if they are interesting or controversial.