Cloud storage is no longer an alien concept to internet users the way it was back in the day. If you have access to the internet on a regular basis, chances are pretty good that you have backed up at least some of your important data on to cloud storage. Having said that, in spite of the bulletproof security guaranteed by cloud storage service providers, there is always the threat of your precious data being compromised. Below explained are two steps that will ensure the safety of your stored data on cloud services.
Encrypting Your Cloud Storage
If you are a user of cloud storage services like SugarSync and Dropbox, then it must be gladdening for you to know that both those service providers encrypt all data that is directed towards them and then stored on their servers. The catch, however, lies in the fact that those service providers also have the means to decrypt that data.
This is why it’s important for you to add another layer of security if the data you’ve stored on a cloud service is of sensitive nature. Simply put, you can add another level of encryption altogether over the existing one provided by the service providers.
TrueCrypt is the software that allows you to create another volume in your cloud storage account folder that is completely encrypted. This ensures all the data on your cloud storage cannot be accessed without your authentication even in the face of a government order. If you access your cloud storage data from multiple devices, then using TrueCrypt’s portable version is the perfect solution. This can be done by extracting the installation files to the cloud storage.
Encrypting Your Internet Traffic
Complete security of your cloud storage will never be ensured till the time you encrypt the data that flows to and from your device over the internet. This traffic, if left unencrypted, provides a kind of loophole when you decide to encrypt your cloud storage. This is because your important files can always be compromised on their way to the cloud storage. This threat is more evident if you use public unsecured networks for internet access (e.g. airport Wi-Fi).
In order to make any data, which has been stolen during transit, useless you can use a VPN to encrypt it. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) establishes a secured pathway with any designated third-party server. All the data that traverses this secured pathway is protected by encryption. So even if some entity is able to intercept it, the data cannot be read.
There are many VPNs based on the internet that you can use for this purpose. The good ones might charge users a small fee but in return, a full set of features is ensured.
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