How to Choose Cloud Storage

How To Choose The Cloud Storage Solution That Suits Your Needs 

Choosing the right data storage package can make the difference between a smooth backup process and major headaches caused by data leaks and breaches.

Whether you need to choose cloud storage solutions for your family or business, there are a few key factors that you should consider when weighing up your options.

Let’s take a look at five crucial angles to consider before you make your choice.

Reliable Security

With data security incidents skyrocketing around the world, South Africans can no longer afford to be complacent – in fact we currently rank number one in Africa for cyberattacks.

A cloud storage solution that features encryption and using advanced algorithms is an essential weapon in the fight against cybercrime. Make sure that your provider’s security is up to scratch before you sign up.

Scalable as you grow

If you’re shopping around for a business data storage solution, you’ll need a package that grows with your enterprise.

  • Your monthly backup requirements may only be one gig or less currently, but in the years to come your business may generate 10 or even 100 times that amount of important data per month.
  • It’s always best to opt for a cloud storage provider that offers a range of packages with increasing data storage capacity so that you never have to read the words “your storage is full” ever again.

Great Customer Support

Every tech product experiences a bit of downtime now and then – plus there’s always a setting that needs to be changed or a feature that you’d like your provider to explain better.

Reliable and well trained customer service representatives are an essential link between you and your data backup provider and it’s essential that they offer online chat support as well as a call centre so that you’re able to get in touch with them and resolve any issues that arise.

Backup enabled

Having a digital storage option to replace your physical hard drive or other devices is one thing, but making sure that your sensitive information is regularly uploaded is equally important.

  • When you choose a cloud storage provider, make sure that the products have an automated backup feature so that you can specify how often you’d like your files to be stored in the cloud.
  • This will help ensure that you have a copy of all your important data and will help you to bounce back from a data leak or cyber attack.

Designed for business and personal users

Some cloud products are well-suited for companies with large budgets and significant data security concerns while others are more suitable for individuals and families.

It’s important to check the specific features of your provider’s backup solution before you make a final purchase decision so that you don’t end up with too many features for a home set up or a package that doesn’t offer the functionality you need for business data backup.

We’ve got your ideal cloud storage solution right here

Soteria’s range of secure cloud storage packages are suitable for both household and business use. Whether you’re backing up your personal files, photos and videos, or looking for secure, encrypted cloud storage and backup system for a medium to large size business, we can help.

To choose a secure cloud storage package that ticks all the boxes above, browse our range of packages today.

End-to-end encryption | Mobile Apps  

How to keep end-to-end encryption on – when it’s ended!

Data encryption is essential if you want to make sure that only you and the person you’re chatting with have access to the content of your messages.

With an increasing number of leaks emerging from popular messaging apps including WhatsApp in recent months, keeping your private communications private has never been more important.

If you’re a WhatsApp user, here’s everything you need to know about end to end encryption and how to activate it on your device.

are your whatsApp messages really safe?

When you send and receive text messages the least you would expect is that no third parties should be able to read them.

  • To keep your messages private, apps like WhatsApp encrypt every message you send on both ends.
  • E2E encryption means that once you send a message it’s essentially scrambled until it arrives on the recipient’s phone – but there’s a little loophole here.
  • Your messages may be encrypted, but if you use cloud backup they could still be accessed by hackers or law enforcement authorities.

To address this hole in their data security, WhatsApp has introduced the new encryption system for cloud backups of chat messages.

By selecting cloud encryption and setting a password or 64-bit access key, you can give your backed up messages the same level of security as the WhatsApp messages currently on your phone.

how to activate E2E encryption on whatsApp

You can secure the privacy of your messages on an iPhone in a few easy steps:

 

how to add end-to-end encryption

 

  1. Open WhatsApp on your phone.
  2. Tap on Settings.
  3. Follow this tap sequence: Chats > Chat Backup > End-to-end Encrypted Backup.
  4. Tap on Continue, then create a password or 64-bit key.
  5. Tap on Done – and you’re done!

*Note: If you don’t and encrypted backup option on your phone yet, hang tight – this feature is currently being rolled out to users.

Keep your data safe data safe with encrypted cloud storage

The data you need to keep safe goes way beyond WhatsApp messages.

A truly comprehensive data security policy should cover all your sensitive electronic information. Our range of cloud backup solutions is the ideal tool to keep your data safe. Contact us today to learn more.

Cloud Encryption | Cybersecurity

The how and why of cloud encryption

Data encryption is a major part of every effective cybersecurity setup – but what is it, how does it work, and why should you be interested in data storage, and more specifically, how your data is encrypted in the cloud? To answer these questions, we’ve put together a guide on cloud encryption.

Read on to find out everything a business owner needs to know about keeping cloud data safe.

cloud encryption 101

The Internet has revolutionised the way we do things, and it’s all thanks to the flow of data.

  • There are quadrillions of data fragments floating around in cyberspace at any given time, and it’s essential for internet users to keep theirs safe.
  • One of the ways you can prevent hackers and other cyber criminals from accessing your data is by making sure that it’s encrypted.

Encryption is a technical term that basically means scrambling your data so that outsiders won’t understand it. If you ever played code cracking games at school or have watched a documentary about the old decoding machines used by spies during World War II, you already have a good idea of how this process works.

Modern day encryption simply takes this process to the next level by ensuring that data moving between your computer and the cloud (data in transit)  can only be read by authorised users and ditto for the data stored on your devices (data at rest).

Encryption is done by using secure end to end protection that scrambles the information being sent and received. This offers better protection than HTTPS which is found on every web browser.

the benefits of encryption

There’s a lot of valuable data moving around between your computer and the cloud: just think of how much information you send via the internet on a daily basis.

  • Your Internet banking details, email passwords, information used to file tax returns with SARS, and other valuable company information could be intercepted by hackers or malware creators – and if they can read it, the damage could be almost unlimited.

By encrypting your data you’ll ensure that you (and  only you) can read it. Even if it does get intercepted the unauthorised user would need to crack the code before they can use it for anything – and that usually takes more time and skill than most hackers are willing to invest.

keep your data safe with secure cloud hosting

Don’t you wish you could secure your data remotely and access it whenever you need to? You can. Our range of cloud storage solutions with data encryption are ideal for families and businesses of all sizes. For more information, contact us today.

Still ‘Zooming’ in From Home? Here’s How to Enable Encryption

When the world retreated and people started working from home at the beginning of 2020, data encryption and security were not yet top of mind for everyone. As face-to-face meetings migrated to remote meetings and new remote working software applications became a necessity, ‘Zoom’ was suddenly one of the new buzz words.

This still relatively unknown video conferencing service was being used by everyone, from the executive businessman to the teen connecting with friends, family birthday celebrations to corporate workshops. When it emerged that Zoom had no end-to-end encryption putting users’ data at risk, it seemed as if the world held its breath. Seemingly unfazed, Zoom responded by addressing the security concerns with a new feature: end-to-end encryption.

the zoom end-to-end encryption debacle

In the early days of lockdown as the security concerns gained momentum on social media, Zoom claimed to offer end-to-end encryption, but that turned out to be not entirely true. In reality, Zoom only offered TLS encryption which is Transport Layer Security.

In short, data encryption is offered between individual users and service providers. It does not guarantee that communication directly between users of the system is encrypted. Which means that Zoom could have chosen to access user data and could also expose it to a third party…if they wanted to.

End-to-end encryption differs in that it encrypts data at the source device. The data remains encrypted while it is sent through the servers and is only ever decrypted when it reaches the recipient’s device.

how to activate end-to-end encryption on zoom

With Zoom offering full end-to-end encryption, it makes sense to implement the service so that you too can benefit from a security standpoint. How you activate the service will be determined by whether you are an individual user or the admin of a group. Here’s what to do.

  • Sign into Zoom using the Zoom web portal
  • Click “settings” in the navigation menu and then click on “meeting”
  • In the “security” tab, toggle the “allow use of end-to-end encryption” to “on”
  • Verify your choice by clicking “turn on”

If you are unable to do this because the options appear grey, this typically indicates that the admin of your group has disabled the feature.

Admins of groups or overseers of accounts with many users need to follow the same steps as above, except you will notice that there are extra options that allow you to lock all users’ accounts under the settings that you choose.

what you need to know about zoom end-to-end encryption nuisances

It’s not all rainbows and butterflies with Zoom’s end-to-end encryption. Unfortunately, there are a few inconveniences that you need to be aware of. Here’s what you need to know.

  • End-to-end encryption features will only work if everyone on your call has the feature enabled.
  • All call participants must call from the Zoom mobile app or Zoom desktop not from a Zoom Room or a telephone.
  • End-to-end encryption is not compatible with certain features including live transcription, breakout rooms, cloud recording, one-on-one chat, polling, and meeting reactions.
  • No one can join the meeting before the host does when end-to-end encryption is being used.

keep zooming, but more securely

While it might seem like the inconveniences are a bit of hack, having the added security is really worth the while, especially for sensitive conversations and meetings. Of course, you still need to ensure that your device is never compromised, so the responsibility of true security for your data and sensitive information really does lie with you and how you backup your data.