What you should expect from your Cloud Storage Provider

What is cloud storage, anyway?

Cloud storage is generally, but not limited to, data you store on the Internet with third party services that can be accessed via an account set up with the service. It could be data in the form of your emails, comments you post online, or messages you send on social media. It’s basically information in the form of what you write and post online, files that you’ve uploaded from your computer, and data gathered about your online browsing activity in a private profile unbeknownst to you. As you may have gathered, companies that collect and store your data are have varying privacy practices and security measures. Many sell and share your data without your knowledge, ask your to rely on empty words like “we take your privacy and security seriously”, and some lack basic protections for your account and data in the event of an attack or instance of Murphy’s Law. Data that is exposed cannot be unseen and data that isn’t backed up sufficiently is lost forever. Fortunately, there are companies that take a privacy-first approach, protect your data, and prioritize on keeping it in your control. Sync.com offers cloud storage with zero-knowledge encryption and versatile account protection provisions.

Conveniences that External Drives Cannot Provide

The features provided by of cloud storage services should be on par, if not better, than what you can expect in your experiences with how you manage data locally. In most typical cases, when you delete files on your computer, they end up in a special folder that is in the shape of a waste bin. You can expect to recover data from it so long as it isn’t emptied and there might be an option to empty it automatically. Some cloud storage providers delete data after 30 days. Sync.com keeps your data for as long as you need it. When you want to permanently erase something, you can purge it after it has been deleted to make it irrecoverable. If you accidentally overwrite files on your device with files containing the same name, a previous version of the file is stored.

When you make changes to files on your device, it might not always be possible easily recover an older version of it. It might depend on what is provided in the program or app it was edited in or the operating system you worked on. In macOS, you can utilize Time Machine and on Windows there’s probably something that’s difficult to use. Having access to older versions of your files is important, in case you overwrite them (as mentioned earlier) or accidentally delete or edit over contents of the file unknowingly or via an unnecessary contribution from your cat or dog. Sync.com makes it as easy as requiring you to hit the save button and then waiting for the new version of the file to upload to the cloud. OneDrive saves time by syncing only the changes to the cloud, but the trade off is that Microsoft can see the contents of your files (Sync.com sets IDs for your files and folders). Restoring older versions for the files is easy as well. Simply access the web client panel and select the desired file and click on the current available option to reveal the file’s history and restore the one according to the time it was updated.

Account Access & Basic Security Standards

It’s not uncommon for passwords to leak or be exposed in plaintext, whether it’s internally on a provider’s computers and servers or via a breach by a malicious hacker. Data dumps with account details may not be discovered until months or years later and some damage cannot be undone. In rare instances, your account may compromised because of malware, such as a keylogger, recorded the keystrokes use to enter in your passwords. In any case, the fact that it can be compromised for a significant period of time before you find out shows that having a strong password alone is not enough. Thankfully, major companies have included multi-factor authentication options (also known as two-step verification or two-factor authentication) that add an extra layer of account security. These are additional ways to authenticate your account on top of using your password; ideally, if you were to share your email/username and password with the world no one would be able to log into your account with that information alone.

Despite having additional verification options, there are ways that it can go wrong. One is when services have users rely solely on third party authenticators like Authy, 1Password, etc. This can complicate and overwhelm users who aren’t tech-savvy and don’t want to put up with QR codes, don’t save back up codes, etc. Sync.com remedies this by providing an option to receive a code in your email. Obviously you’d have to make sure your email account was using a strong and different password, as well as one of the multi-factor authentication options to prevent hackers from compromising your email accounts. Another problem is that insecure options, such as SMS-verification (when codes are texted to you), are still in use today. Companies such as Apple, WhatsApp, and Telegram use it, but only former uses it exclusively. SMS that are sent can easily intercepted & read and can ironically make it easier for attackers to take over your cloud storage accounts. By providing two secure options that are simple yet reliable, Sync.com ensures that you can safeguard your account without losing access to it or inadvertently give it away freely.

Data Privacy

Let’s talk about encryption. In a nutshell, data that is encrypted is scrambled and its preferred social and economical resale value is the equivalent useless garbage. If the encrypted data is lost, exposed, or stolen, you won’t be negatively affected. While the method of transforming your data back and forth (encrypting & decrypting) is important, it’s also important to know who’s holding the keys that can decrypt your data into something readable. If you share the keys with a cloud service provider, then your data is not private as anyone who has access to them can share your data. This how things are done with most services, unfortunately. If a bad actor got ahold of your personal data and keys without having to access your account, any aforementioned security features would not be able to help you retroactively.

Most reputable services on the Internet secure data in at least two ways. They encrypt data in transit so that someone who is intercepting data along the way cannot read it. They also encrypt data at rest so a breach only reveals useless junk that hopefully won’t be decrypted. However, they also retain the keys that is used to the decrypt the data, granting access to the readable data to their users and themselves. They might use it to scan and analyze said data for various purposes. Some enterprises, like Sync.com go a step further and encrypt data while leaving the keys solely in the hands of its users. This means that they cannot read or interpret true contents of the encrypted data you’ve entrusted with them. This means you don’t have to worry about: shoddy algorithms (or “AI”) locking you out of your files or account after producing a false positive, an employee seeing what you did last summer, and a tenacious, unsavory third party finding their way to your files. Through Sync.com’s use of zero-knowledge encryption, only you have access to the readable version of your files and anyone else who happens to get the encrypted copies is left with less storage space on their devices.

Getting what you need is easier than ever

Sync.com makes this all accessible with its affordable pricing plans for individuals and businesses. The free plan provides five gigabytes of truly private cloud storage that allows individuals to store crucial personal data like copies of their passport or birth certificates. For those who want to sleep easier at night, they can upgrade their plan to back up certain folders on their computer and move their data from other storage services. Businesses looking to reduce the amount of speed bumps they encounter on the road to progress and productivity can upgrade their workflows with Sync.com’s Business Pro Solo or Business Pro Team plans. With significantly fewer mistakes made (and the ability to easily reverse them), employees can work efficiently and focus on building out the company’s future instead of managing more minutia. Sync.com does its best to get out of your way by seamlessly integrating into the way you work without compromising reliability, features, or your privacy. Protect your data today with Sync.com and choose a plan that’s right for you.

Credits and Acknowledgements

SVG