Wright PC Consulting, LLC

Recently we explored ways to secure your data on your laptop computer using TrueCrypt.

However, data encryption is not just for your portable devices. In fact, as data theft and loss increases both by public and government organizations as well as at home, so too should the ways that you protect your data assets no matter where it is stored.

One of the first storage devices that I recommend that clients asses for potential threat are removable media such as flash drives and external hard drives. While these devices make storage and portable access to your data easier for you, it also increases the potential for a data breach for you and your business.

While nothing is absolute, using these steps, you can rest assured that your data that lives on a portable storage medium will be more secure:

• Download and install a disc encryption tool such as TrueCrypt (there are others)
• Remove any important files from the disc to be encrypted by deleting them or copying those files to another disc
• Select the encryption method that best meets your needs
• Using your encryption solution, format and encrypt the entire disc (depending the size and encryption method, this can a very long time)
• Mount and move your sensitive data to the newly encrypted disc

It really is as simple as that. Now your data is still easily accessible, portable and safe.

Often when most think of protecting their data using either an on site or off-site solution, they typically just consider their desktop and if they have one, a home/business server. However, one of the most vulnerable data storage and processing devices we own, laptops are all too frequently overlooked.

Just think about it… we lug our laptops around in cabs, airports, libraries, branch offices and other sometimes remote and more hostile environments. So, why is it most don’t think twice about what would happen to our data, and our lives for that matter, should we experiencing an hard drive failure, virus or other data destroying event?

While no method is foolproof, I have developed my own backup routine for my own portable systems and often share it with my clients. As always, this method may not meet your specific needs, but that is not usually the purpose of my articles. Rather, I hope that I can stimulate you to develop your own methods to meet your needs. So, with the disclaimer out of the way, let’s get to it:

1. I recomend that if you have the hard drive space, that you use your favorite disc partitioning software (including the one built into Windows VISTA) to create two additional partitions. One will be for your data including documents, spreadsheets, music and other other personal data. The other is for your system backups leaving the primary partition for easy backups and restores of your operating system and programs. Move all your personal data to the data partition.
2. Once you have prepared your hard drive, the next step is to select an imaging solution. I use TrueImage, but the choice is yours. Now that you have your solution selected and installed, you should create an image of your primary partition by saving it to the backup partition that you created in the step above. Next, do the same for your personal data. If you solution gives you the option to span your images or limited their size, I recomend that you limit the size to the largest removable media format that your system can accommodate (DVD or CD) to make the next step possible.
3. Finally, burn those images to your removable media and keep them with you while on the road so that if you must replace the hard drive while traveling you can easily recover your data.
4. For added protection, I recomend that clients consider and automatic, off-site solution to ensure that you have access to the most recent data possible. While it takes a little more work, you can also backup your primary partition’s image off site as well.

A few final thoughts. Some may look at these steps as a hassle and, quite frankly a little overkill, I would much rather take a little time on the front end and be proactive that be reactive and in a panic should something go wrong. My method is not yours. There are many variations to these steps, like, using a small external hard drive rather DVDs/CDs. So, you should be creating and make it work for you! The important thing is that you prepare yourself for life’s road bumps before you hit the road.

Your data is important to you. As we rely more on our computers to create, store and manipulate documents, pictures, music, financial information and health records, the more vulnerable we become to data loss as a result of fire, theft, storms and other disasters. Not only are there external hazards threatening your data, but data is vulnerable to internal threats as well including viruses, hardware failure and human error.

In order to minimize those threats, I recommend that our clients consider an off site storage solution. For those with a broadband connection there are many paid and free options. After trying several of solutions, I have chosen Mozy from Berkeley Data Systems, Inc.Mozy offers several options from free to a Professional solution. Those with a light data load, Mozy will find the 2GB of storage available with the free solution to be an excellent off site storage option. For clients who have a greater need for storage, I recommend the unlimited plan. For $4.95 per month per computer you can storage as much data as you want. Finally, for clients with a more enterprise level need, Mozy’s Professional solution will likely fit the bill.

Besides generous encrypted storage with a secure transfer tunnel, I have found the Mozy set-it-and-forget-it software a breezy to setup and manage. The default options will meet most users needs, including the selection of email, favorites and My Documents automatically and a centrally managed encryption key. However, for those who wish to have more control, you can create and manage your own key and select individual files and folders for differential backups either during system/network idle time or on a set schedule.

Update (3/1/2008): I have been using Mozy as my primary off-site backup solution since writing this post. I have to say I’ve not been let down yet. The Mozy software runs quietly, in the background on my home server and at a predetermined time every night grabs, encrypts and uploads my documents with out as much as a grunt. The only time it failed was when I missed the request to update the Mozy application because it resides on my headless home server and had no way to tell me it needed to be updated. Once I did that, we were back in business!