Cloud Hosting

This week I got an email from a reader with a question:

Im curious: Where do you recommend storage of historical documents such as tax returns, etc. Should I store them locally on a hard drive with a risk of failure or online in a service like Dropbox, with the risk of hacking?

I use the latter with two-step authentication, but Im still unsure.

There are hundreds of ways to safeguard your important data, and we cant come close to talking about them all, so lets concentrate on just a few.

To be clear, we are talking about digital files here, not paper.

As I collected my tax documents this year, about half were digital and half were paper. If you have paper documents to save, you can opt to scan them into PDFs. Ill be reviewing a nice document scanner in a few weeks.

Once you start gathering your important information as digital files, you have some choices to make.

The first (and easiest) choice is to store the files on your computers hard drive.

The danger here is someone else could gain access, either in person or through the internet.

If you dont have separate login accounts for each person in your household, now is the time to create them. If you are storing sensitive files on your PC, youll want to log out when you are not using the computer.

Giving everyone else their own accounts will keep them out of your files.

You can also encrypt your hard drive so that it cant be read even if someone steals your computer and removes the drive.

Mac users can search for File Vault and Windows users can search for BitLocker to read more about whole disk encryption.

You can also search for ways to encrypt folders.

Another option is to save or back up your digital files on USB drives (either flash drives or external hard drives).

It is always a good idea to keep a backup copy of your important files on a separate (removable) drive and store it away from your home. You dont want to lose all your data if your house burns down or your computer gets stolen.

These backup USB drives should also be encrypted.

Encryption lets you open the folders and files, but anyone else needs a password.

As for cloud storage services like DropBox, Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive, you can store your documents there, but you should think about how you use those services.

Most people log into a cloud storage service and let their browser or operating system save their credentials to make it easier to log in (or to stay logged in).

You should always log out of those services when you are finished accessing the files.

That way you must log in each time.

You should also enable two-factor authentication, which is another level of protection.

With two-factor, youll enter your cellphone number during setup. Any time you want to log into the cloud storage, youll be texted a code that youll have to enter along with your usual password.

If there is one lesson here, remember that its not enough to save your files and to back them up. You need to encrypt those files to make it almost impossible for others to open them and set up two-factor authentication wherever you can.

Read this article:
Here are the best ways to keep your digital files safe - The Dallas Morning News