by Jon Carver

Created on: September 03, 2009   Last Updated: September 07, 2009

YES! Well, safer to be more precise. Let me qualify that. If you are using a reputable online backup service (such as IDrive or Mozy), you can be sure that the hosting company (the Pro Softnet Corporation in the case of IDrive), is interested in maintaining a good reputation. It is therefore likely to have invested in a significant amount of money in data protection and security in order to look after your all important files, photographs and documents etc.

The last thing a good online backup company wants is a news item appearing on the internet complaining about breaches in its security. Therefore it is most likely that, in order to remain a viable business, such a company will actively invest a share of its income closing holes in security if and when they arise. This will hold true, not only when you sign up for the service, but on an ongoing basis, so that, as new threats arise you are more likely to be protected against them without having to continuously review, modify or replace your existing backup software.

It is probably fair to say that a potential user will see a downside in having to transfer their data to an online service, outside of their corporate or home network with all of the perceived security risks that would appear to involve. However, data encryption technology now helps to ensure that a secure link or 'tunnel' can be readily created between your home or office computer and the online backup service. This helps to ensure that your data reaches the safety of the backup service, its security and privacy intact.

The situation is somewhat different in the case of a personal rather than online backup system. For example, on your home PC you can ensure a certain amount of security, you can purchase a personal firewall, antivirus software, scan regularly for root kits, if you have the time that is. But, unless you are prepared to invest a substantial amount of time and money, you are unlikely to be in a position to guarantee the levels of security offered by the big online backup services. The only qualifier to this is if you backup to offline media such as tape or DVD. However, this is unlikely to be a viable solution for many as it is very slow, cumbersome and expensive.

No service can or will ever be 100% secure, like everything it is a balancing act taking into account convenience and cost. A good online backup service is more likely to be able to provide you with the levels of security you need for your data, at a reasonable price and in an accessible and convenient format which is available when you need it.

Online backup is a good example of how we as users and consumers are happily seeing the challenges and logistics of many aspects of our digital lives (web based email being a prime example), transferred 'server side' so that we no longer have to rely as heavily on the speed and capacity of our own hardware, the integrity of our hard drives as it were, in order to ensure the preservation of our precious information.

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