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Do You Want a Personal Copy of Your Emails?

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When you have emails in your inbox that you need to save together as a personal copy like:

  1. Emails from the IRS
  2. Changing jobs
  3. Emails from a customer for archiving

Whatever it is, here’s how to safely save your emails with just one click.

New Tool: Save My Emails

Save My Emails is the latest addition to our growing library of free and low-cost Chrome productivity tools.

Installing it only takes a moment, and with one click, you can backup any email in your Gmail account.  All you need is a USB keychain or your computer’s hard drive to download them to.

Using Save My Emails

Here’s how to install and use the Save My Emails extension:

Step 1: Install the Extension

Install the Save My Emails Chrome extension, which is free from the Chrome web store. It only takes a moment to install.

Step 2: Select the emails you want to save

Go to your Gmail and select the emails you want to save.

Step 3: Click the “Save My Emails” button

Click the “Save My Emails” button. That’s all there is to it.

You’ll get an email when we’ve done copying them all for you in PDF, CSV or MS Excel format. Then you can download them onto your USB drive, or your computer’s hard drive. Here’s a 60-second video of Save My Emails in action:

Experts estimate that 1 in 5 businesses will be hacked at some point this year.  Among hackers, email is one of the top targets. In March, for example, a hacker was asking $450 for a file that contained credentials for over 20 million Gmail and Yahoo! accounts.

Though less common, network outages and server failures can also wipe out your email storage.

For all those reasons, it’s vital that you have important emails backed up somewhere safe. Now you can do that with just a single click.

 
Save My Emails

Why Cloud Collaboration Will Be Integral to Every Type of Business

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Cloud collaboration is rapidly becoming an indispensable part of modern business. Once hailed as a service relevant exclusively to the IT industry, Cloud Services have become integral to SME’s, hospitals, major pharmaceutical chains, and even disaster response services. As the cloud continues to grow in reliability and efficiency, its part in day-to-day business operations is flourishing. Let’s take a look at why:

Why Cloud Collaboration Will Be Integral to Every Type of Business
Image Courtesy of Shutterstock.com

Centralized Project Management

Thanks to Cloud collaboration, the days of document emailing are finally behind us. Instead of employees using a weary chain of email forwarding to share information, relevant documents and data can now be centralized through the cloud. Since the cloud can be accessed remotely by any employee with the necessary security clearance, business projects can be completed and stored more efficiently than ever before. As Cloud providers continue to offer improved project management services, the Cloud is well on its way to becoming an unparalleled asset to workflow optimization.

Data Security

Contrary to popular myth, Cloud storage is generally many times safer than local storage. The dedicated security teams involved in the management of Cloud services are almost guaranteed to exceed the resources of your own IT department. With Cloud storage, business data is not being transferred through various means of dubious security. Instead of risking document loss through computer outages, flash drive damage, and compromised email accounts, all data is centralized and secured by the Cloud. Although concerns over temporary Cloud outages have yet to be entirely resolved, many Cloud providers are working on implementing failover systems. Such systems would ensure continued Cloud accessibility, even through power outages and inclement weather.

Affordable IT Expansion

Instead of buying a $500,000 IT system, SME’s can now expand their computing power affordably. With Cloud computing, even start-up businesses can maximize their IT performance in a way that was once only possible through the supercomputing systems utilized by military and research facilities. Cloud computing technologies can even function as energy-saving tools. In fact, studies show that through adopting Cloud services, businesses have reduced energy consumption and lowered carbon emissions, all whilst decreasing capital expenditure on IT resources. One report published by AT&T in 2011 predicted annual Cloud computing energy savings of up to $12.3 billion

IT Support

IT support has long been a nightmare for small and large businesses alike. But with Cloud Computing, that nightmare can finally be outsourced. Instead of relying upon in-house IT support, companies can turn to the external IT services of their Cloud provider. That means 24/7 IT support from on-call IT specialists who are trained in the Cloud. For small businesses who do not have an on-site IT support team, this provision is of particular value, providing insurance against data loss through employee error. Cloud services IT specialists will often even help businesses with problems that are not directly related to the Cloud–failure to establish a network connection, for example.

Why Cloud Collaboration Will Be Integral to Every Type of Business
Image Courtesy of Shutterstock.com

Remote Employment

One of the greatest advantages of the Cloud for business owners is the ease with which it enables remote employment. In fact, as a direct result of Cloud services, remote employment is a growing trend amongst big and small businesses alike. Where once project sharing with remote employees was a process too convoluted to be consistently effective, the Cloud allows off-location workers to access up-to-the-minute project updates and information. By permitting such employee collaboration, the cloud contributes to increased workflow and productivity in businesses all across the globe.

cloudHQ is a service that helps promote cross-platform team collaboration, simple workflow management, and safe backup of your cloud. Click below to start your free trial, or reach out to one of our Cloud Integration Specialists.

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How You Can Protect Customer Data From Shadow IT Risks

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Former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has become the unlikely face of Shadow IT, thanks to the media uproar caused by the news that she used a personal email address while at the State Department.

Hillary Clinton
Image by wikipedia.org

Some politicos noted that this wasn’t on the large scale of typical Clinton family scandals, but Republicans presidential nominees have to bang the Benghazi drum when they have the opportunity. A private email account also raised concerns that Clinton was conducting diplomacy with world leaders behind the back of the diplomatic corps.

However, it’s unlikely that someone in Clintonland wasn’t aware that this could cause problems later on. So why take the risk? Knowing what they know about presidential campaigns, why did a Clinton go to the effort of having a server installed in their Chappaqua, New York home?


Addressing the press, Clinton said “Looking back, it would’ve been better if I’d simply used a second email account and carried a second phone, but at the time, this didn’t seem like an issue.”

With her work phone, a BlackBerry, Clinton wasn’t allowed a personal email account. Ever security conscious, but needing to keep up to date with family business outside of State, she didn’t want the added worry of carrying two devices.

This is something that many professionals can understand and empathize with.

And yet, CIO’s everywhere were alarmed by the fact that if this can happen at the highest level of the State Department, surely it can happen in any workplace.

How IT Departments Can Protect Against Shadow IT?

Shadow IT
Image by pat138241 freedigitalphotos.net

Firstly, consider why employees bring their own devices or use their own file sharing and cloud services, or private email accounts: usually, like Clinton, for convenience.

Coming down hard on employees will only make the problem worse, or drive staff away to competitors with a more relaxed approach to IT. Relaxed, however, shouldn’t mean insecure. With cyber-attacks on the rise, the potential for viruses to get in through new (private) routes makes this risky behaviour; one better controlled and managed than outlawed.
 

Educate

One way to protect against security breaches through shadow IT is to make employees aware of the risks, to the company, to them, your customers.
 

Empower

Find which systems or apps your employees prefer to use, compared to the enterprise suite products they ought to be using. Assess whether it’s viable to switch or use alongside, and identify ways to make them more secure in the workplace.

Encrypt

 
If employees are sharing data and files, or moving them back and forth between personal cloud services (like Dropbox, Box or Google Drive) and your companies cloud, then make sure all files are encrypted.

Some services, like Amazon and Box, offer automatic encryption, but not all do, so ensure employees know what’s available, like Credeon for Dropbox.

Ideally, staff shouldn’t be taking customer data off-site, but that isn’t always possible, which is why working with them to accommodate their user needs is a sensible approach which benefits everyone.

Top 10 Dropbox Tips and Tricks

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As far as inexpensive and convenient cloud storage goes, Dropbox is the clear industry leader. With its ease of sharing and its dominance over mobile devices, users flock to this solution for its simplicity and functionality. These 10 tips are what most of them don’t know:

  1. Bad file check.

    Sorry to break the news to you, but many times, your Dropbox files aren’t actually backed up properly even if it’s been automated to do so; what’s more, is that Dropbox will never proactively inform you of this. It’s up to you to check that all your files are stored safely in Dropbox. Here’s how you check for “bad files”:

    1. Sign in to Dropbox
    2. Then go to check your incompatible files by clicking here.
    3. It takes a few minutes for Dropbox to generate this report, but once you get it, you’ll be amazed at what you thought was backed up vs. what isn’t.
    4. Once you have your report, look at the reason why it’s incompatible with Dropbox, and either try to fix it on your own, or reach out to their customer service team to fix this issue on their help page.
      *TIP: If you have a Twitter account, reach out that way- they’re far more responsive on Twitter.

  1. 2-Step Verification Makes it Nearly Impossible To Hack Your Account.

    We’ve previously written about the Authenticator app in our previous emails, and are still touting how much safer it makes our cloud services from being compromised by hackers. You can easily add Dropbox as one of the services to Google’s authenticator where this app will issue you a timed code that changes out every few seconds to make sure that you are the correct person access your Dropbox account. This is a great solution for securing your Dropbox account on your desktop because you’ll need two devices to unlock your Dropbox account on your desktop.

    1. Find the Google Authenticator on the App Store or Google Play.
    2. Install it. It’s free.
    3. Once you have it on your mobile device, press the “+” sign on the top left of the header, and then select “Scan Barcode”.
    4. Then on your desktop, go to this link.
    5. You can point your mobile device camera towards your desktop screen in order to scan the barcode.
    6. Once scanned, Dropbox will always prompt you to enter your authenticator app code after you’ve already entered in your password when you access. It’s called 2-Step Verification.
    7. When Dropbox prompts you to enter your code on your desktop application, just go to the Google Authenticator app, and type in the number that you see. *Note: When you see it turning red, you’re about to get a new code generated. When it’s blue, you have a bit more time to enter it in.
    8. Tip: Google Authenticator is great for a slew of cloud services, not just Dropbox! You can even use it to further secure your Google account, Microsoft account, and many others.
    9. Once you’re done with getting the hang of Google’s Authenticator app, desktop access to your Dropbox account is pretty solid. Now, you’ll need to protect Dropbox on your mobile device.
    10. Go to your mobile device and open your Dropbox app.
    11. Tap on the setting icon in the bottom right hand corner.
    12. Tap on “Passcode Lock”, and then on “Turn passcode On”.
    13. You’ll be prompted to enter in a numeric passcode to unlock your Dropbox account.
    14. Then while still in “Passcode Lock”, turn on “Touch ID” to allow your fingerprint to unlock your Dropbox account.
      *Note: If you haven’t enabled “Touch ID” on your device yet, you’ll need to do that first by going to your device’s settings and following the prompts to enable “Touch ID”.
    15. We found this link on Dropbox to help you further.

  1. Favoriting Files Makes It Easy To Access a Group of Files, Even While Offline.

    When you favorite a Dropbox file on mobile, it does two awesome things for you:

    1. It saves that file to your mobile device so that you can access it later when you’re offline.
    2. It adds the file to your favorites list for easy access; acting very much like a bookmark.
      1. Open your Dropbox app on your mobile device.
      2. Choose the file(s) that you use on a daily basis. You will see a menu with 3 dots on the top header bar. Tap on it.
      3. There will be a pull down that pops up. Next to the star icon, you will see “Favorite”. Tap on it. Your file is now added to your favorites.
      4. Now, tap on the back arrow to go the main Dropbox dashboard and tap on the star icon at the bottom toolbar. Congratulations! You’ll see your new favorited files available to you in a kind of a shortlist, and will also now be available offline.

  2. Events Helps you Identify Hackers.

    Do you have files, and you want to see a historical timeline of what’s changed in your account? Of course you do! It’s a great defense against hackers, and it’ll show you what’s coming into your Dropbox account. With a timeline, you can see what you shared with others, uploads, downloads, changes, and deletions.

    1. Sign into your Dropbox account
    2. Got to your events page.
    3. Verify that everything looks like it’s in order.
    4. If you didn’t make the changes that are listed on your timeline, change your password immediately.

  3. Who doesn’t love a shortcut? 

    Here’s a handy list of Dropbox keyboard shortcuts. This is a great command list for desktop users; our favorite is “d” to show or hide deleted files.

  4. Make Dropbox your Central Cloud Storage for Any Files Created on Your Desktop.

    Making Dropbox your default document storage is an easy way to make sure that everything you create on your desktop (in Microsoft Word, for example) is immediately replicated from your “My Documents” folder to your Dropbox folder; thereby ensuring an easy way for you to find and access your files in the cloud. Dropbox wrote a a really good post on this. Click here and follow the prompts.

  5. Get Your Passwords Under Control, and Back Them Up.

    With so many apps, and so many passwords, we highly recommend 1Password to store your passwords securely. They generate random passwords for you, and they really seem to be the only one that works the best for such a nominal fee ($9.99 on for mobile). This is how Dropbox fits in:

    1. Once you have 1Password, use Dropbox as a password backup application.
    2. Store your newly generated passwords from 1Password in your Dropbox account for an easy backup plan because:
      1. You can enable 2-Step verification on Dropbox (Your fingerprint as well as your Dropbox password to access your account on mobile), or use Google authenticator on desktop.
      2. Your passwords from 1password will be encrypted. That means that if anyone ever hacked your Dropbox account (which is highly unlikely if you follow all these tips), they won’t access your backed up passwords because the file is encrypted.

  6. Storing Photos, and Upgrading to Dropbox for Business? Be Prepared. 

    Dropbox for Business is a good business solution for cloud storage, but be prepared if you use Dropbox personally as well. If you upgrade your account to Dropbox for Business, you’ll still need to have a secondary, personal Dropbox account for all your camera uploads since they don’t get transferred over to your newly upgraded Dropbox for Business account.

    “The Camera Upload feature is only available for personal Dropboxes to help you keep your personal photos separated from work files.”  –Dropbox

    This is intentionally done so that you’ll still be forced to pay for an additional, personal account. Be aware of this issue when you upgrade to Dropbox for Business.

    *Tip: If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you automatically get free photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive. This offer from Amazon is only for photo uploads (not video). You can sync all your photos to Amazon Cloud Drive with cloudHQ here.

  7. The Ultimate Backup Plan: The Remote Wipe Out.

    If everything goes wrong and your device is in the hands of the wrong person, or if you have to quickly terminate an employee who has access to your company’s Dropbox account, you can remotely wipe their device’s Dropbox account clean by following these prompts.

    *NOTE: This option is only available for Dropbox for Business accounts, not for personal accounts. And please forgive the tangent since this should probably be its own blog post, but this presents a big problem. Because Dropbox for Business doesn’t support camera uploads, they’re forcing people to use two Dropbox accounts: One for personal use and one for business use. We all know that employees (ourselves included), will often mix up our accounts as we upload documents or photos to Dropbox. That means that even if remotely wipeout a Dropbox for Business account on a device, we can expect that we might not actually be able to wipe out all company information if the person who owns that device accidentally stored business files in their personal Dropbox account by mistake.

    Suggested Workaround: If you absolutely need Dropbox for Business, get Amazon Prime for $99/year (gives you benefits like free 2-day shipping and unlimited photo cloud storage).  Then use Amazon Cloud Drive for camera uploads while using Dropbox for Business for everything but photos. Instruct employees do the same.

  8. Get Peace of Mind: Backup your email and your attachments, too.

    Waiting to back up something as important as your Gmail account to your Dropbox account can be a nightmare if you wait too long. Maybe you’re an employee and you’ve just been terminated and you need your Gmail so that you can save your contacts and reach out to them in your new job, or maybe all of your Gmail attachments have sensitive information in them but your account just got hacked, etc. None of this needs to be so dramatic. Save yourself the headache, and perform the following functions:

    1. Click here to go cloudHQ’s sync service to backup your Gmail to Dropbox by following the prompts.
    2. Back up your Gmail, don’t wait until it’s too late, and get peace of mind.

We hope these tips help you get the most out of your Dropbox service!

 

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8 Tips to Protect Yourself and Get the Most Out of Google Drive

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One of today’s most popular cloud services is Google Drive. It’s highly secure, but it’s also only as secure as you make it. Here’s some best practices on how to protect yourself and get more out of it:

Secured web

1. Sniffing out the fakes.

Check all third party applications that are authorized to access your Google Drive, and disable any that you don’t recognize. Here’s how:

  1. Sign in to Google Drive
  2. Click on your picture in the top right hand corner and choose “Account”
  3. Scroll down to “Connected Apps And Services” 
  4. Click on “View All” next to “Account Permissions”
  5. Disable any suspicious or unrecognizable apps.

2. 2-Step Verification Makes it Harder To Hack Your Account.

Enable 2-step verification on your device for your Google account, but be sure to disable the voicemail feature. A common trick that hackers use, is that they’ll call your phone provider and pose as you saying that they forgot their PIN#. Most phone companies will far too easily give a new PIN number for your device. Hackers then access your Google Drive password by pretending they’re you on Google, and asking Google to send a voicemail of your password to your device, all the while having the PIN# to access your voicemails. Sneaky, huh? Here’s how to enable 2-step verification, and disable the voicemail option:

  1. Sign in to Google Drive
  2. Click on your picture in the top right hand corner and choose “Account”
  3. Scroll down to “Signing in”
  4. Go to 2-step verification, and click on “off” to turn it on. It’ll prompt you to go to this link to get set up.
  5. Click on “Start Setup”
  6. It’ll prompt you to verify your phone number
  7. IMPORTANT: When Google Drive asks you where they should send the codes just below your phone number, make sure that “Voice Call” is not enabled.

3. “Authenticator” Makes it Nearly Impossible To Hack Your Account.

After enabling a 2-step verification, you might also want to enable another app to help your privacy: Google authenticator on any of your mobile devices. You’ll receive a timed code that changes out every few seconds, and you don’t need an internet connection or mobile service to get a code generated. So if you use this in conjunction with a 2-step verification, you’re locking down your account really well.

  1. Find the Google Authenticator on the App Store or Google Play.
  2. Install it. It’s free.
  3. Everytime you log into your Google account, it’ll ask you for your authentication number. When you need to enter it in, just go to the Google Authenticator app, and type in the number that you see. *Note: When you see it turning red, you’re about to get a new code generated. When it’s blue, you have a bit more time to enter it in.
  4. Tip: Google Authenticator is great for a slew of cloud services, not just Google! You can even use it to further secure your Dropbox account, Microsoft account, and many others.

4. More Storage Space By Deleting Your Trash.

If you’re running out of storage space, empty your trash folder… just make sure that you don’t delete something that you need (in which case it shouldn’t be in your trash folder). Did you know that Google Drive counts your trash files as part of your storage quota? Yeah. That’s what we thought too. 😉

  1. Go to Google Drive and sign in if you aren’t already.
  2. In your labels on the left hand navigation bar, you’ll see “trash”. Click on it.
  3. Then, you can empty your trash by clicking on “trash” again to get the pull down where you’ll have an option to “empty trash”. You’ll feel so decluttered, and your storage space will increase too.
  4. Tip: Dropbox, MS OneDrive, and Amazon Cloud Drive doesn’t count your trash towards your storage quota.

5. More Storage Space By Deleting Your File Versions.

If you have multiple versions of a file, the old version of the file is also counted as part of your storage quota. Say, for example that you uploaded a 1GB video. And then you uploaded a new, 2GB version of that same video. The original as well as the uploaded video (for a total of 3GB) is counted towards your Google Drive storage quota. Here’s how to delete previous versions of a file:

  1. Sign into your Google Drive account
  2. Click on “My Drive” in the left hand navigation side bar.
  3. All your files will show up.
  4. Note: On any non-Google document (like a downloaded Microsoft doc, or a png or pdf, etc), you will be able to manage your versions. On any Google documents, you won’t need to manage any versions because any documents made in Google Drive don’t actually count towards your storage quota.
  5. Right click on a non-Google document, and a dropdown menu will pop up. One of the options in the menu is called “Manage versions”. Click on it.
  6. Make sure there are no previous versions; and if there are any, you should delete it if you don’t need it.
  7. NOTE: You’ll need to do this for each file, so it’s a long and tedious process.
  8. NOTE 2: We found this support page for more details if you need it.

6. Check to See All the Files That You’re Sharing With Others.

Check who’s sharing your documents, and remove anyone that you no longer collaborate with. Or worse still, remove anyone’s name that you don’t recognize.

Interestingly, Google Drive’s new update removed an easy search query that allowed you to search for all your files that you shared. Here’s a handy workaround:

  1. Sign into your Google Drive account.
  2. Revert back to your old Google Drive by clicking on your settings icon in the top right hand corner.
  3. In the drop down menu that ensues, there’s an option that says “Leave the new drive”. Select it.
  4. Now that you’ve reverted back to your old drive, go to the top of the page to the search tool bar next to the magnifying glass. There’s an upside-down arrow, which is the “advanced search options”. Click on it.
  5. There should be this neat dropdown menu, and here you can click on “Anyone with the link” and then once you get your search results, click on the upside down arrow (advanced search options) again and click on “owned by me”. Here you will see a list of all your files that you’ve shared with others.
  6. Go through your files, and edit sharing access file by file, as you see fit. Remove sharing privileges immediately for anyone whose name you don’t recognize.
  7. Think you’re done? Nope. Sharing files on Google Drive can also be made public so that anyone who has the link can access your document, even if you didn’t personally invite them.
    • Go to the search tool bar at the top and click on the “x” next to “Anyone with the link”. This will leave you with files “owned by me”.
    • Go back to the “advanced search options” (the upside down arrow), and select “Public on the web”. Repeat step 5 with your new search result list.
    • When you’re done, just click on your settings icon in the top right hand corner and select “Experience the New Drive” to revert back to the new Google Drive update.

7. Malware in the Form of Chrome Extensions? Yes.

If you use Google Chrome, you need to look at your Chrome extensions. What happens is that any old app might have been bought out by another company that is questionable, or sometimes there are app extensions that you never installed! Look at the app list scrutinizingly because, and I quote: “Google Chrome cannot prevent extensions from recording your browsing history”.  What does this mean? Browsing extensions can access anything you browse, including what you type in for your Google Drive password.

8. How to Get A Hard Disk Copy of Your Google Drive.

Anyone who downloaded their Google Drive to their Mac or PC, will have a hard copy of their pictures, and other documents that were not created with Google Drive on their Mac or PC. For example, an uploaded picture or a Microsoft file that was uploaded into your Google drive will download fine to your Mac or PC. However, any documents that you created using Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides will not be part of the download, and will therefore not be backed up to your PC or Mac. If you really need those documents, we suggest synching Google Drive with another cloud storage company like Dropbox. From there, you can download your Dropbox to your Mac or PC; where all your files, regardless of where they were created, can be easily downloaded on your hard disk.

We hope these tips help you get the most out of your Google Drive!

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5 Safety Concerns with Cloud Data Storage, Answered.

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cloud keyStill a relatively new innovation, cloud storage has attracted a lot of scrutiny in recent months. Before entrusting sensitive data to third party storage facilities, consumers want to know that their information is going to be stored safely and reliably. And is it? The simple answer is yes. Despite scare tactics devised by hackers to undermine consumer perception of the cloud, cloud storage remains one of the safest ways to store your data today. Let’s take a look at why.

 

 

1. If the Cloud is Secure, How was Apple’s iCloud Hacked?

After the well-publicized attack on Apple’s iCloud, polls showed an immediate drop in the popularity of cloud storage. Users reported feeling more vulnerable, and began questioning the security of their own personal data. But what really happened? The headlines said that the cloud had been hacked, that nude pictures had been stolen from the private accounts of 26 celebrities. While the photos were indeed stolen from the victims’ personal accounts, the important distinction that the popular media never made was that the cloud wasn’t hacked. The breach was a result of vulnerabilities in Apple’s password security system, enabling persistent hackers to guess the passwords and security questions of select users. The cloud itself was never actually breached.

2. How is the Cloud Protected?

To keep data secure, the front line of defense for any cloud system is encryption. Encryption methods utilize complex algorithms to conceal cloud-protected information. To decipher encrypted files, would-be hackers would need the encryption key. Although encrypted information is not 100% uncrackable, decryption requires a huge amount of computer processing power, forensic software, and a lot of time. Can it be done? Yes, the only way to keep your data safe for certain is to lock it up in a safe beneath the ground. That being said, your cloud-stored data is generally safer than your locally stored data. Cloud services utilize more complex security methods than the average computer owner is able to devise, giving your cloud-stored data an added level of protection.

 

3. What Can I Do to Help Keep My Cloud Data Safe?

Keeping your data secure is your responsibility as well as your cloud provider’s responsibility. As hackers demonstrated through the celebrity iCloud breach, poor password security can give cybercriminals an all-access pass to your private data. To keep your password safe, avoid using the same password over multiple platforms; add letters, numbers and symbols to your password, and do not utilize a password that is in any way related to your personal life. Any hacker worth his salt will know your address, your husband’s name, the type of car you drive and your favorite restaurant.

Data security is a major concern, and although options are currently limited, they exist. The most secure is likely a military grade encryption from providers like Credeon or nCrypted Cloud. This allows users to encrypt and store data with their own specifications, and securely share files with other parties that can view files with a key management system.

However, the biggest cause of concern for Cloud storage isn’t hacked data, it’s lost data. Dropbox recently had a glitch in their sync system that left many subscribers with lost files. For those who only had their files hosted on Dropbox, there was no possible way to retrieve them. In this case, redundancy to another cloud platform would have been a good idea.

 

4. Is Cloud Storage Really Reliable?

Your data might be safe if the system that it is stored on has failed, but that won’t do much to mollify you in the event of a system outage. While cloud storage keeps your data secure from fires, floods, hurricanes and computer meltdowns, it is still vulnerable in the sense that it is in the hands of a third-party system. Fortunately, since there are no geographical limits to cloud storage, you don’t have to use your local Joe schmo’s cloud services. Before selecting a cloud storage provider, do your research. Top cloud providers can keep your data safe and consistently accessible. If the company you are working with has a history of data loss and security breaches, then it’s time to move on to a new provider.

Cloud storage is much more reliable when used in tandem with another storage system, such as Google Drive. As stated earlier, the biggest concern with cloud storage is lost data, not hacked data. But that issue is eliminated if the cloud is used more as a “sharing” platform instead of a “storage” platform. By taking shared files and storing them into something like Google Drive, you can ensure that if your data is lost, you can easily locate it through the other platform. Services like cloudHQ offer seamless integration via the cloud and Google apps, Box, and Dropbox; making it impossible to lose your files.

 

5. Who is Currently Using Cloud Storage?

A recent poll stated that 86% of companies not only use extensive cloud storage systems, but multiple cloud storage systems. The survey consisted of companies from 80 different countries and collected data from as far back as 2005, before cloud storage became a hot button issue. 30% of business of 1 storage account, 16% have 2, 12% have 3, 8% have four, and 19% have 5 or more (with 13% having 0 accounts).

So what does this mean? It means that most companies either trust cloud storage enough to incorporate it significantly in their data storage efforts, or that the benefits of cloud storage are so great that it’s worth the risk. Nevertheless, the trend is not stopping. Cloud usage has seen an exponential rise every years since 2009.

So although safety seems to remain a concern, despite the guidelines and practices put forth by experts in the field, big companies are still investing resources in acquiring and developing the storage platform. Which means that cloud optimization and security will mimic the rise in its popularity.

 


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Why Salespeople and IT Need to Connect On a Deeper Level

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NoIT managers are often stuck between a rock and a hard place, and so are their sales counterparts. Most of the time, upper management wants to create one location for all their corporate documentation like Box or Dropbox, and their corporate security relies on it. Salespeople on the other hand, are really focused on the sales end-goal and some corporate security practices are dropped in favor of sales efficiency. Within the confines of corporate security practices, salespeople are often forced to find a workaround around from their corporate security protocols; resulting in breaking the rules that they deem as less of a security issue. Here ensues a strong butting of heads, but the funny thing is, they don’t realize that they’re actually in the same boat.

The Problem
When IT and Sales don’t communicate together, the company as a whole suffers lost opportunities, and its employees partake in a toxic “us against them” work culture. It doesn’t make for a winning situation.

The Why
There’s too much upper management, and they each tell a different story. They are giving conflicting goals to departments, and so those departments get into a pissing match.

The Irony
If no one wins, there are only losers. Collaboration towards the end goal of being profitable or growing users must be the key focus.

The Solution
IT and Salespeople need to connect together more and better, kind of like a mutually beneficial marriage. Instead of the IT department telling their salespeople to strictly use Sharepoint software, maybe there are other solutions that can keep all the documentation backed up to Sharepoint, or at least encrypted. On the other hand, instead of salespeople just screaming at IT that they only want to use Salesforce, and maybe some other stuff like Evernote or dare I say- Google docs or Dropbox, maybe salespeople can calm down and present solutions that doesn’t conflict with company privacy.

In fact, there are solutions that exist in 2 simple steps:

Step 1)
A company can sync the information in any of these cloud services onto different platforms. This way, the salespeople will be happier; cloudHQ does this (shameless self-promotion right there #sorrynotsorry).
Step 2)
On the documents that are highly sensitive to security, you can apply an encryption code on top of it. Credeon from Hitachi does that, for example.

cloudHQ. Sync your cloud. Save your work culture.


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Keeping Your Data Safe From Unauthorized Access and Deletion: Dropbox, Credeon, and cloudHQ

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People love Dropbox because it’s so convenient and easy to use. But those who use it for business are faced with two challenges: how to make sure their confidential data is protected from unauthorized or malicious access, and how to protect that data against malicious or accidental deletion.

There’s an easy way to do both, when you combine Dropbox with Credeon and cloudHQ.

The Convenience and Concerns of Cloud Storage

You probably already know that Dropbox is an extremely effective and popular cloud storage service that many businesses use for seamless sharing, storage, and backup of important data in the cloud. It makes collaboration simple and convenient.

As great as Dropbox is, though, security can still be a concern for some users. Even though Dropbox does have some security features such as two-step verification, the cloud by itself is not entirely safe. By definition, after all, uploading data to the cloud means it’s “out there” — for potentially anyone to see.

This can be an issue for many professions. Lawyers, for example, have special concerns because of the sensitive, confidential nature of the documents they work with. Companies involved in merger negotiations, or those in highly competitive fields such as advertising, real estate, and investment banking, also may have very good reason to worry if their data becomes available to any unauthorized users. Hackers, rival companies, and other outside parties are a real threat that it’s unwise to ignore or underestimate.

Protect Your Confidential Data Against Unauthorized Access

So how do you protect against malicious and unauthorized access to your data in Dropbox? One excellent solution is to use Credeon to encrypt your data. This encryption key management system from Hitachi uses military-grade encryption technology to secure your files before you upload them to the cloud. Credeon is available for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, so you can use it on virtually any device. When you put a file in your Credeon folder, it’s automatically encrypted and ready to upload to the cloud and share. After you upload a Credeon-encrypted file to Dropbox, you choose who gets to see it by giving them the encryption key.

Using Dropbox and Credeon together is a fantastic way to protect against someone’s stealing your sensitive data — but this method does not protect against malicious or accidental deletion of that data.

A hacker, a virus, or even a disgruntled employee could still get into your Dropbox account and simply delete everything. A nightmare for anyone, and one that is a very real threat. Just ask journalist Mat Honan, who had all of the data in his MacBook, iPad, and iPhone deleted by a hacker who wanted access to his Twitter account.

On the other side, there’s also the less nefarious but equally damaging possibility that someone on your own team may accidentally delete some or all of your data. You know the saying: “To err is human.” And we’re all human.

Keeping Your Data Safe with Dropbox, Credeon, and cloudHQ

Back Up Your Data: cloudHQ to the Rescue

That’s why it’s important not to keep all your data stored in only one place. Having a cloud-based backup of all your data is a great way to guard against deletion, be it malicious or accidental.

This is where cloudHQ comes in. When you upload a document to Dropbox, cloudHQ backs it up in your Google Drive. Setting this up is as easy as selecting your Dropbox and Google Drive accounts — cloudHQ does the rest. You use a “backup” Google Drive account: one that is not synced to your computer and uses a different email address with different login credentials. Synchronization is in real time, which means that as soon as you make any changes to data on Dropbox — say, uploading a new document, or even just editing an existing one — all the changes are instantly replicated in Google Drive.

What’s more, with cloudHQ you can set up two-way syncing between Dropbox and Google Drive, making it even easier to collaborate and keep things up to date. Change or upload data in Google Drive and it automatically gets synced to your Dropbox.

In this way cloudHQ solves two problems: 1) simplifying collaboration and 2) transparently backing up your data.

Now you’ve got a double layer of protection. With the seamless combination of Dropbox, Credeon, Google Drive, and cloudHQ, your data is kept safe from malicious or unauthorized access as well as from malicious or accidental deletion. Brilliant!

 

cloudHQ Free Trial

 

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How to Protect Your Sensitive Business Data

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Top Secret

Guest post from our friends at Omnistar Interactive.

Businesses are increasingly allowing content sharing in their organizations. But with constant security issues posing a threat to the safety of their data, companies need to implement procedures that ensure the sensitive information they hold remains within their organization.

Fundamental tips to protect your sensitive business data

The following are some of the basic steps and procedures that industry professionals recommend that companies strictly implement in their organization to avoid data breach.

  1. Look at the usage of your business data.
    • Examine who has access to your confidential and sensitive business data. Find out who has frequent access to the information and who infrequently accesses them.
    • Check the frequency involved in using or changing the information. For example, your customer database may be used by too many people in your organization.
    • Determine how your business data is being transferred or shared. There are various ways that employees use to transfer or share data: email, online streaming, or through USB storage devices.
  1. Create a comprehensive list of all data stored in your company.
    • Know where each type of data is kept, who has access to it, and how often it is accessed.
    • Using this list, find out how the handling of the data can cause risks.
    • To be safe, minimize access to the data to just a few of your staff or employees.
  1. Streamline manual recordkeeping.
    • Arrange and store all paperwork and documents according to month.
    • Record all transactions and payment amounts. Keep all online financial transactions by month and financial year in approved storage locations.
    • Avoid paperwork when possible and instead use a secure virtual recordkeeping system that only a few employees constantly access.
  1. Store data efficiently.
    • Use a central server to store critical data. Storing data on a single location minimizes theft.
    • To improve security on a single point of storage, mirror the data elsewhere using techniques provided by a reliable IT provider.
    • Limit access to the data to a few trusted employees. Implement a secure way for these employees to access the data.
  1. Back up the data.
    • Install an effective backup procedure to ensure that you can retrieve your data when issues arise.
    • Use backup software to schedule and maintain automatic backups.
    • Take backups on a regular basis. To use less storage space and to make the process quicker, back up only the information that has been changed.
    • Store the backup away from the main copy of the information.
    • Keep backups secure as well. Encrypt the data and store in secure devices.
    • Consistently check the security level of the backup service provider by regularly testing it. Be sure you know how to recover the data in it.
    • Back up your data to a removable unit, such as a portable hard drive, CD-ROM, a DVD. You can also use an online backup service to back up data over the Internet.
    • Assign a dependable person in your company to secure backups and to perform the backup procedures on schedule. He or she should report to you regularly.
  1. Provide better data protection.
    • Install and update security software regularly to protect from threats and vulnerability. Set it up so that updates are enforced automatically.
    • Use security software that prevents unauthorized use of USB storage devices.
    • Encrypt all confidential data and prevent easy access of sensitive information.
    • Use electronic signatures or watermarking to monitor authorship and data file changes.
    • Implement secure password usage to inhibit hackers from accessing your data.
    • If the data is connected to the Internet, install software and hardware firewalls to keep hackers out.
    • Install a remote wipe facility and promptly use it in instances when devices containing sensitive data are lost or misplaced.
    • Provide a tight security system at the application level and likewise at the data level.
  1. Comply with regulations.
    • Ensure compliance with local legislative requirements. Evaluate your security strategy and make sure it complies with regulations.
    • Establish a clear and quick action plan that your employees will follow if a data breach occurs. Fast action can have a huge difference in terms of business reputation and legal consequences.
  1. Make employees understand the need to protect confidential business data.
    • Explain to the employees the value of keeping business data secure and encourage them to safeguard information rather than keep them uninformed.
    • Establish guidelines that your employees will follow regarding handling and sharing of business data. Make the policies available through the company’s intranet.
    • Hold periodic practical workshops and meetings to reiterate the magnitude of keeping confidential data safe. Educate them on the essentials of data protection law.

Data security and ease-of-use

At times, security becomes an issue when it gets in the way of productivity. With this, it is important for any business entity that intends to allow employees the use of devices to access and share business data to ensure that everything is secure. But to keep employees from being weighed down by the maze of security involved to the point that they are unable to render their work well, consider using cloud backup services.

Cloud computing and applications

Cloud computing enables businesses to manage computing resources and business records over the Internet. These services can be set up to automate the process. A lot of companies these days make use of cloud computing to help manage their business requirements. Many cloud service providers have extremely skilled security professionals. They are continually evaluated by users and customers, are required to comply with security regulations and are driven to ensure security success.

Data access and backups can be done through systems such as Evernote or cloudHQ. cloudHQ is a cloud-syncing system that enables cloud-based applications to communicate with each other and provide real-time backup. Basically, cloudHQ works by replicating data as soon as it is changed. It can be synchronized with applications like Evernote and web-based email client Gmail.

Finding-Your-Cloud-Mix1

In this setup, all important documents received through Gmail are instantly saved to Dropbox, a file-syncing program. Dropbox is used by many businesses to sync files across computers and the cloud, access data from different devices, share files, promote transparency by using the program like a server, as well as for business deployment and management with centralized administration and more.

Evernote is a suite of software and services created for taking notes and archiving. It can be synced to an application like Google Drive to constantly back up files being created. Data in Evernote is stored both locally and in the cloud. It can also encrypt sensitive data within a note. Plus, information stored in Evernote can be exported in different formats, and taken where necessary.

Even with the many benefits that cloud computing and applications provide to businesses, it is vital that business organizations evaluate cloud computing services and utilize sophisticated technology, especially where it concerns the safety of their data and information. Doing so can save them the negative repercussions associated with services that are less than stable and secure.

Finding the ideal data protection service

When deciding to use a third-party service provider to provide protection for business data, companies must make sure that the service does not just make it possible to achieve better data protection but improved productivity gains that do not compromise security. Each layer must require distinct authentication tokens that reinforce security. Ideally, the data protection service must provide multiple layers of security and more influence over where the data will be shared as well as more protection from malicious threats and intrusions.
When adequate security measures are carried out, hacking and any malicious intent that puts your business data in high risk can be prevented. With a well-designed and well-implemented data protection system and guidelines for your business organization, you can look forward to safer handling and sharing of confidential business information. Plus, you allow your employees the liberty to achieve increased productivity whether they are in the office or working outside the business premises.

When it comes to critical business applications, businesses should not merely focus on tight security that protects enterprise data at every stage. On top of providing reliable data protection, companies must make ease of use a top priority. This is to avoid inefficiency and lower productivity that can significantly affect the business operation. It is vital to remember that security and functionality should go together. Without the other, businesses may not be able to stay around longer to reap the benefits of their corporate endeavor.

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