[Question] How safe is Dropbox?

[AmithS]

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to know from the technology savy members

How safe is it to use Dropbox and would you keep sensitive data on Dropbox?

Thanks,

[AndyD]

This is a vague question. What kind of material are you looking at archiving there?
What does the word 'safe' mean? Do you mean safe as in it won't get lost or safe as in you don't want your kids seeing it or safe as in you don't want governments, law enforcement agencies or courts of law being able to subpoena the info?

Dropbox runs over an encrypted transfer protocol so the connection between your pc and dropbox is assafe as internet banking for example. The dropbox servers are not encrypted so the info could be handed over by Dropbox the company if someone got a court order.

You can mount a virtual Truecrypt drive within your Dropbox which would give some further measure of protection but if someone manages to get between you and the dropbox server in a classic 'man in the middle' type attack then you dropbox and truecrypt passwords would be compromised.

I would use dropbox for general non-sensitive off-site backups if I didn't have a gmail account. I wouldn't use dropbox for anything incriminating or anything that requires absolute secrecy. I have a dropbox which I actually use for sharing files, anything I get asked for on a regular basis I just dump in dropbox and give access to anyone that wants it, that way I only upload the item once and it saves my bandwidth.
Computer and internet safety is a frame of mind, nothing more.

[Citizen X]

I plead ignorance on this one! I would also like to know how safe it is?

[thinusmj]

I am using Dropbox only for file sharing and non-sensitive off-site backups.

WHY?



It has been reported that Dropbox, one of the most popular cloud storage options available, has been charged with an FTC complaint. Apparently the promises of keeping your files encrypted and secure on their servers are a lie, according to Christopher Soghoian, the security researcher who brought up the issue.

According to the complaint, Dropbox has the ability to access and view all the files uploaded to the service despite claiming that they weren’t able to see the files you uploaded without a password. This meant that users were at the risk of government searches, rogue Dropbox employees and even companies trying to bring mass copyright-infringement suits.

http://www.gadgetpolice.com/gadget/dropbox-isn%E2%80%99t-as-safe-as-you-thought.php

And there are more just search for " How safe is dropbox" and see

http://memeburn.com/2011/06/dropbox-leading-cloud-computing-service-suffers-security-failure/

[AmithS]

AndyD, I meant safe as in other people being able to access the files\hack the server kind off thing. It would be sensitive information to me but not illegal information!

If not dropbox, what would be a good way of backing up data? and would encryption be the solution for example your laptop being stolen? (so that no one can access the information)

[Neville Bailey]

Singhms,

Have you considered IronTree as a secure, encrypted online backup system?

The only downside is that it is not a free service. Costs vary depending on how much data you want to backup.

A huge benefit over Dropbox (apart from the issues raised already in this thread) is that your first backup is the largest - thereafter files are backed up incrementally, and not just at a file level, but at the bit level. In other words, if you want to backup your Outlook.pst file (which could be huge), subsequent backups will only transfer the portion of that pst file that has changed, not the entire pst file.

You can try IronTree for two weeks, at no charge, before deciding whether or not to subscribe to the service, so it's risk free.

[Dave A, I am an IronTree dealer, so the links above are affiliate links to my dealership. Let me know if you don't want me to publish affiliate links here, and I will remove them immediately.]

[Dave A]

[Dave A, I am an IronTree dealer, so the links above are affiliate links to my dealership. Let me know if you don't want me to publish affiliate links here, and I will remove them immediately.]

You've more than earned your stripes, Neville.

[thinusmj]

Singhms,

You can also look at A-drive you get 50GB free on there basic plan http://www.adrive.com

[irneb]

So to what degree is IronTree and A-Drive "secure"?

1. Guarantee that data won't be lost? And timespan for data storage without further activity?
2. Guarantee of password protection - i.e. no hacking?
3. User level acces, e.g. some users allowed to add / delete / overwrite / read files?
4. File level access? Grant user permissions per file?
5. Secure connection - HTTPS? How many bits?
6. Encrypted storage?
7. Record keeping of access? Records available to whom?
8. Guarantee of privacy from any unauthorised viewing (including the server managers as well as governmental institutions)?

Further do these allow for WebDav / FTP / SFTP (or similar access) so one could map a drive letter to the store? Or does it come with some Desktop utility, or must it be used through a web client?

I do like the idea of incremental uploads in IronTree! How is that accomplished? Some form of sectoring the files with a CRC for each sector - similar to Torrents? Or is a duplicate copy kept on the client machine for comparison?

[Neville Bailey]

So to what degree is IronTree and A-Drive "secure"?

1. Guarantee that data won't be lost? And timespan for data storage without further activity?
2. Guarantee of password protection - i.e. no hacking?
3. User level acces, e.g. some users allowed to add / delete / overwrite / read files?
4. File level access? Grant user permissions per file?
5. Secure connection - HTTPS? How many bits?
6. Encrypted storage?
7. Record keeping of access? Records available to whom?
8. Guarantee of privacy from any unauthorised viewing (including the server managers as well as governmental institutions)?

Further do these allow for WebDav / FTP / SFTP (or similar access) so one could map a drive letter to the store? Or does it come with some Desktop utility, or must it be used through a web client?

I do like the idea of incremental uploads in IronTree! How is that accomplished? Some form of sectoring the files with a CRC for each sector - similar to Torrents? Or is a duplicate copy kept on the client machine for comparison?

Rather than reinventing the wheel by answering your questions myself, can I suggest that you first have a look at the following links regarding IronTree:

• Features and Benefits
• FAQ

Hopefully most of your questions will be answered in those links.

[irneb]

Thanks! The faq actually answers most of my questions positively!

I can't seem to find much info about the client app. Is there some screen shots available?

What I'm after is the setups _ if there's a way of setting include / exclude filters. Most of our data files have backup copies and temporary files which should be excluded.

I must say, IronTree seems quite impressive!

[Neville Bailey]

Is there some screen shots available?

I've attached a screenshot from my IronTree application - to give you an idea.

[irneb]

Thanks, though it doesn't actually show include/exclude filters. Here's our problem: We've got several projects with thousands of files & folders under each project. These files constantly get added to and edited. Even new folders created on a daily basis. Then also some folders would contain only temporary files which need not be updated, these folders would have some indication in their names so we can use an exclude filter instead of manually deselecting each. All the files are produced by various programs: Word / Excel / AutoCAD / Revit / PhotoShop / 3dStudio / etc. Most of these then also produce backup files after each edit.

E.g. an AutoCAD DWG file after editing & saving has a permanent corresponding .BAK file. Revit has several backup files. E.g. Filename.RVT could have anything from 1 to 20 corresponding Filename.####.RVT files. None of these need to be included in the backup. But excluding them manually would be a herculean task.

As an example here's a screen capture of one single project (we usually have around 10-20 current projects running). And we need to keep at least 10 years worth of project files due to legal issues.

Notice 16GB in 13k files and 900+ folders. Just going through that one project to manually select which files / folders to backup would take a day at least. And this needs to be repeated periodically as new files / folders are added to the project.

[Neville Bailey]

Thanks, though it doesn't actually show include/exclude filters. Here's our problem: We've got several projects with thousands of files & folders under each project. These files constantly get added to and edited. Even new folders created on a daily basis. Then also some folders would contain only temporary files which need not be updated, these folders would have some indication in their names so we can use an exclude filter instead of manually deselecting each. All the files are produced by various programs: Word / Excel / AutoCAD / Revit / PhotoShop / 3dStudio / etc. Most of these then also produce backup files after each edit.

I've attached a screenshot from IronTree's help file which explains how its file filter works - hopefully this will work for you!

[thinusmj]

Singhms,

You can also have a look at https://www.info.co.za
Info is designed to help you store and manage all your key personal or business information and documents.
You can store all common file types, such as documents, spreadsheets, presentations, scanned documents (whether in TIFF or PDF format) and images.