Better Ways of Securing Your Sensitive Data

Better Ways of Securing Your Sensitive Data

Better Ways of Securing Your Sensitive Data Tips 2016

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We all have sensitive data. Yours may be personal or business. But it is meant for your eyes only. You will have to work extra hard to keep that data out of the hands of Google exec, Eric Schmidt. He has made it clear that if you don’t have anything to hide, you shouldn’t worry about privacy.

This particular line of reasoning should resonate with no one because we all have something to hide, lots of somethings at that. Here is a short list in no particular order:

  • Passwords
  • Financial information
  • Sexual preferences
  • Intellectual property
  • Surprise party plans
  • Browser history
  • Exact location of your kids

I could go on this way for a long time. But I think you get the point. You have plenty to hide. And if you are anything like the rest of us, you will want to go on hiding it for as long as you possibly can.

Every new security breach tells us that our current methods of protecting sensitive information do not work. Here are some better ways to secure the things you would rather keep to yourself:

Secure USB

USB is one of the most useful computer innovations of our time. It made it easy for manufacturers to make useful hardware that we could connect to the computer regardless of make and model. With the advent of USB, almost every peripheral worked better, faster, simpler, and more reliably. Unfortunately, it also set security back a decade in the process.
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To this day, the biggest security hole in your system is a literal USB-shaped hole in your system. As easy as it makes for you to move data in and out of your system, it does the same for the data thieves.

Products like the Secure USB are changing all that with encrypted flash drives featuring the following benefits:

  • FIPS PUB 197 USB 3.0 certified device
  • IP57 certified – water/dust resistant
  • AES hardware encryption – no software required

These are heavy duty certifications and regulatory clearances that mean the flash drive no longer has to be relegated to the light work of temporarily storing unimportant files. It is a much better way to transfer your secrets from one machine to another.

VPN

No amount of data security will help if you access that data over an insecure network. This is why corporations spend so much money creating and maintaining a private network. This is why they are so particular about the devices that are allowed to access the network. Before BYOD, companies would issue you a device. And that would be that.

You can have similar security with a virtual private network (VPN). You can access this kind of network from the office, your home computer, or mobile device. Never access your secrets on public wifi in a park, hospital, or your favorite coffee shop. How you access your secrets is every bit as important as how you store them.

Encrypted Backups

Devices like the iPad Pro have hardware encryption enabled out of the box. Many hearing that believe that is enough to keep them safe. What they fail to realize is that data thieves aren’t just trying the front door. They also try the back door and windows. In other words, it may not be the data on your device you have to worry about. It is more likely the backups of the data that are at risk.

In some ways, your backups are always more vulnerable than the primary data. That is because you frequently have your devices on you when traveling, or locked away when not. Your backups may be stored on a server you never see, or on your computer accessed via iTunes. You can and should encrypt the backups just as you do your primary data.

Whether you are transferring it via SecureUSB, accessing it via VPN, or storing it in the form of an encrypted backup, it is vital that you utilize the best methods available to keep your secrets. Because everyone has a few secrets worth keeping.

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