Three ways to beef up security when backing up to the cloud

Disasters happen every day. Crashing hard drives, failing storage devices and even burglaries could have a significant negative impact on your business, especially if that data is lost forever. You can avoid these problems by backing up your data.

Backing up means keeping copies of your important business data in several places and on multiple devices. For example, if you saved data on your home PC and it crashes, you'll still be able to access the information because you made backups.

A great way to protect your files is by backing up to the cloud. Cloud backup services like Carbonite allow you to store data at a location off-site. You accomplish this by uploading the data online via proprietary software.

Cloud backup providers have a reputation for being safe and secure. But you can't be too careful. Here are a few ways to beef up security even more when you use a cloud backup system:

• Before backing up to the cloud, take stock of what data is currently in your local backup storage. Make sure that all of this data is searchable, categorized and filed correctly.
• Consider taking the data you have and encrypting it locally, on your own hard drive before backing up to the cloud. Most cloud backup solutions - including Carbonite - provide high-quality data encryption when you back up your files. But encrypting the data locally can add an additional layer of security. Just remember to store your decryption key someplace other than on the computer you used to encrypt the files. This way, if something happens to the computer, you'll still be able to access your files after you recover them from the cloud.
• Create a password for the cloud account that will be difficult for any hacker to guess. However, make sure that it's also easy for you to remember. The best passwords are a combination of numbers, letters and symbols.

Cloud backups are convenient and have a good record when it comes to keeping your data safe. It doesn't require the purchase of additional equipment or the use of more energy. You can also restore data from anywhere, to any computer, as long as there is an Internet connection available.