Online digital storage of important documents?

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  • atgcpaul
    Veteran Member
    • Aug 2003
    • 4055
    • Maryland
    • Grizzly 1023SLX

    Online digital storage of important documents?

    Anyone store digital copies of their valuable documents (past year's taxes, passport pics, driver's license pics, etc) online?

    I'm scanning documents I think we should have backups of, but only save them locally and would like to be able to access them from a computer/phone for just in case. I've used Google Docs, but Google is a bit scary (have you noticed they have canned responses for your emails based on what someone wrote you?). So just dump it to Google (free and their app already works) or is there something else I should look at?

    Thanks,
    Paul
  • Condoman44
    Established Member
    • Nov 2013
    • 178
    • CT near Norwich
    • Ryobi BT3000

    #2
    I use PKZip for everything not on my NAS or machine and encrypt it.

    Comment

    • cwsmith
      Veteran Member
      • Dec 2005
      • 2737
      • NY Southern Tier, USA.
      • BT3100-1

      #3
      I believe that Amazon has free online storage if you have a Prime membership and I think that some of the cell phone providers offer similar storage services. Also there's a few paid subscription places too. While I see these offered on occasion, I really don't pay any attention to them, as I have really no need or desire..

      Problem with me is that I'm just not very trusting of things outside of what I can directly control. You read or hear of site hacks everywhere and it just bothers me to the point of thinking that I don't want to someday find our family pictures or financial and medical records suddenly part of the ether.

      Storage is really cheap these days and I keep as much backup as possible on a couple of WD Passport drives which are small and portable and can even be encoded. Similarly are thumb drives and micro cards, which are even smaller can be encoded if desired, and carried with you. I can pretty much back up every bit of data, multiple times, and store them in any place that I want, including a bank deposit box if so desired.

      However, if your objective is to be able to access them from your mobile device, then nothing but a cloud-based system will work for you and then you'll have to face any risk (though small) of it being hacked. Life Lock offers some security (or at least they advertise so), but in these days how really secure is anything. On the flip side, really how much of a risk is our data? At one time I thought that the shear numbers of people using the internet was almost security itself (like the chance of getting struck by lightning), but you now hear of these massive attacks that sweep up millions of us without anyone realizing it until it is done.

      CWS
      Think it Through Before You Do!

      Comment

      • Slik Geek
        Senior Member
        • Dec 2006
        • 669
        • Lake County, Illinois
        • Ryobi BT-3000

        #4
        I store my important documents in a local backup (physically separate, but in my home), and do periodic backups to a hard drive that I store in a safe deposit box. I'm not terribly trusting of "cloud" security. Yes, you can encrypt it, but all somebody needs is time and computing power to crack the encryption.

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        • d_meister
          Established Member
          • Feb 2009
          • 184
          • La Conner, WA.
          • BT3000

          #5
          I've tried most of the cloud storage services for device synchronization, and at least one has gone by the wayside, and others have tightened up the free bit. One, Mega, is totally useless for accurate synchronization. Dropbox is my favorite for accurate synchronization of files. Condoman has a good approach with securing files from the get-go, and ultimately, the cloud you use is only as good as the password. One service I looked at had an approach where they don't secure your account at all, the security is between you and the folder on their server. I guess the theory is that since they don't have it, they can't be forced under warrant to provide your password. All that's beside the point, ultimately the value of the data for exploitation is the issue. A jpeg of your driver's license in a folder with a jpeg of your credit card, both sides, may be a bad idea, but encrypting it in several folders in seperate compressed folders with strong pass-phrases should keep it out of harm's way on a cloud server that is also password protected. At the end of the day, there's so much junk on cloud storage that it doesn't make a lot of sense for a hacker to try to exploit it. If they bust into iCloud, the real value is ransom exploitation from Apple. It's a better use of resources to go to a server that has essentially a collection of names, SSN's, CC numbers, associated security codes, and verified billing addresses all in one place, than to sift through terabytes of disassociated files. Something like the outfit that processes CC transactions for small internet vendors.
          Years ago, the company I worked for had a mail room. I sent my credit card payments through there and a new mail room guy used my credit card info and bought stuff by mail order. Identity theft has been around a long time, but they had the Bunko squad working on it then. Use more than a little common sense to make your stuff look less like bait. File names on your home computer is the place to start. Never name a file "reallyimportantpasswords.doc". Make up your own codes for files and put some trees in the forest. A folder named "Buick Pics" can have a bunch of car jpegs in it and an encrypted zip file that 's named "Buick Pics.zip" in it that has your driver's license copy in it. Be creative and get involved in outsmarting them. They'll easily write an algorithm looking for the word "password", but their search will walk right past a file named "Dirty Jokes" (maybe). Ultimately, it's the low hanging fruit that gets picked first.
          Silk Geek has a good point about backup. It's like flossing; we don't do it nearly enough. Plus, he's dead on about the safety deposit box. Hard drives aren't fire proof.

          Comment

          • woodturner
            Veteran Member
            • Jun 2008
            • 2047
            • Western Pennsylvania
            • General, Sears 21829, BT3100

            #6
            Originally posted by d_meister
            All that's beside the point, ultimately the value of the data for exploitation is the issue. A jpeg of your driver's license in a folder with a jpeg of your credit card, both sides, may be a bad idea, but encrypting it in several folders in seperate compressed folders with strong pass-phrases should keep it out of harm's way on a cloud server that is also password protected. At the end of the day, there's so much junk on cloud storage that it doesn't make a lot of sense for a hacker to try to exploit it....Never name a file "reallyimportantpasswords.doc". Make up your own codes for files and put some trees in the forest. A folder named "Buick Pics" can have a bunch of car jpegs in it and an encrypted zip file that 's named "Buick Pics.zip" in it that has your driver's license copy in it. Be creative and get involved in outsmarting them. They'll easily write an algorithm looking for the word "password", but their search will walk right past a file named "Dirty Jokes" (maybe). Ultimately, it's the low hanging fruit that gets picked first.
            Not to scare you, and if it makes you feel better, do it, but they really aren't looking at file names but contents. They will spend a few seconds scanning and decrypting the contents of every file on the server. In a sense, the "low hanging fruit" is the target, which is why personal servers and cloud storage are huge targets while "pro" sites like Apple are less attractive. Most users don't set their security settings well, choose short easy passwords, etc.

            The real risk of cloud storage is that it is accessible to anyone on the internet willing to make the effort. The only way to (sort of) protect data is having it on a disk that is physically not connected to the internet or a computer, except for short periods of time when it is not in use.

            If you are putting your SSN on any computer, you are essentially asking for identity theft.

            --------------------------------------------------
            Electrical Engineer by day, Woodworker by night

            Comment

            • cwsmith
              Veteran Member
              • Dec 2005
              • 2737
              • NY Southern Tier, USA.
              • BT3100-1

              #7
              I agree, but there is also the risk of just loosing your data with local storage with some sort of catastrophic event like fire, flood, tornado, or theft. To be truly safe, you need to keep your data in at least two or three places.... geographical if possible. Of course that depends on the type of data you consider important.

              For my family probably the most important things are related to identity (birth certificates, etc.) and financial records. With the former, the county courthouse might have those records and with the latter, you bank or investment entity, providing you know your account numbers.... but best if you keep records, but those can easily be forgotten. Big thing in many households and true of ours is photographs. It saddens me greatly when I see a story where someone suffered through a fire or storm and have lost generations of photography. It is simply heart breaking. Photographs have no real value to anyone outside the family, but oh what a loss if they are taken away from us.

              CWS
              Think it Through Before You Do!

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