Storing important documents online

Mickey666

Gravedigger said:

Perhaps the docs should be deposited in a bank or secure unit. If they are ever going to be used from media because the originals have been lost, then they will be copies not "Original" as is required from some organisations.  

Yes, for some documents that might well be appropriate.  But the world is changing and it's no longer as important to keep original physical copies of once-vital documents such as property deeds, share certificates, birth and marriage certificates, etc as it used to be.

Decide for each document on its own merits.

Mickey666

pbartlett said:

IvanOpinion said:

You could try sync.com which uses zero knowledge encryption (unlike some of the others mentioned). You get 5Gb free or pay for more.  You could also try pCloud with their Crypto add-on - you have to pay though).

I use both the above.  All paperwork is scanned in before being shredded.  Once scanned and stored it is automatically uploaded both the above.  I no longer keep any paper documents unless absolutely necessary.  For extra security I also use veracrypt and axcrypt where necessary.  

For vital documents I would recommend using at least one cloud storage provider as part of your backup strategy.  More and more I am getting requests to recover files from corrupt DVD and pendrive backups (with varying degrees of success). I have been using cloud storage for about 11 years now and have never lost a document.

Until today maybe??

OVH data centre destroyed by fire in Strasbourg – all services unavailable • The Register

That's a good example of the 'everything will eventually fail' maxim.  Anyone who has planned their backup regime on that basis will not be affected by this incident because they'll have other copies to fall back on.  That's the whole point.

Actually, I'd be surprised if any data is actually LOST as a result of this incident because they should also be planning their systems using the same maxim.  A temporary data outage is a very different thing to permanent loss of data.  It will be interesting to know if there is any permanent data loss - maybe some for the free 'basic' storage but not the 'premium' service? 

Nevertheless, even a temporary loss of data can be very inconvenient and disruptive and, again, if this is something that can't be tolerated for whatever reason then additional safeguards should be planned.  This is also a good example of possible 'cloud storage' problems, where temporary loss of data access is far more likely than total loss. 

Thus, if a road repair gang cuts through your broadband cabling (as just one of a million examples) then you temporarily lose all access to your cloud storage.  Fortunately, there are many solutions to such events but the point is that these things WILL happen, so plan accordingly.

steviebabes

I use a good quality USB stick permanently plugged into my router. It can be accessed by all devices on the same network, protected by the wifi password and won't get lost. I also have it backed up to OneDrive and/or Dropbox.

IvanOpinion

pbartlett said:

IvanOpinion said:

You could try sync.com which uses zero knowledge encryption (unlike some of the others mentioned). You get 5Gb free or pay for more.  You could also try pCloud with their Crypto add-on - you have to pay though).

I use both the above.  All paperwork is scanned in before being shredded.  Once scanned and stored it is automatically uploaded both the above.  I no longer keep any paper documents unless absolutely necessary.  For extra security I also use veracrypt and axcrypt where necessary.  

For vital documents I would recommend using at least one cloud storage provider as part of your backup strategy.  More and more I am getting requests to recover files from corrupt DVD and pendrive backups (with varying degrees of success). I have been using cloud storage for about 11 years now and have never lost a document.

Until today maybe??

OVH data centre destroyed by fire in Strasbourg – all services unavailable • The Register

I am sure the customers will have, or be in the process of, falling over to backup sites - that is what we did when one of our data centres got flooded a few years ago.  I know with the cloud providers I use all data is stored in a minimum of 3 data centres (or so they claim).  A DR plan is, or should be, part of a backup strategy.

Doshwaster

pramsay13 said:

danthemoneysavingman said:

How secure are they though? I know internet sites can get hacked, so I guess there's a chance they could be compromised?
Interested to hear opinions

There is an outside chance the site could be compromised. 
As long as you are careful with your login details, I think there is more chance though of something happening with your hard copy, e.g. house break in, fire, damp etc.

Some people are too paranoid about cloud storage.  Physical storage is a lot riskier.  You just need to think about the potential loss, damage or embarrassment if  
A bigger problem which needs consideration is how someone else who needs to access the documents if you were to die or be incapacitated. If you were to share the documents online with someone then the security is only as good as your trust in them.

coffeehound

A problem with 'online back-up' services is that some only mirror what is stored on your computer, so if you delete a file from your hard drive, it is also removed from the online storage.  

icloud I don't understand at all and am too disorganised to spend time learning exactly what it does.  Some of the macbook and iphone files are saved, but others apparently not.  And you regularly read threads here where it has gone wrong and files have been wiped for some reason.  I hate that flakey unpredictability.  

However, Dropbox has been great.  Simple web interface.  You save files to it, and they are still there when you log back in.  No too-clever-for-its-own-good link to devices (although it probably can be set up as such).  It's also free, which may or may not be a good thing for ultimate dependability.  I assume security is as good as any such service.

Worth looking at as one of your back-ups -- "if you aren't backed-up in at least three places, then you aren't backed-up!"