Halp! - re: Cloud, disc, thumb drives, cyber threat

[UTUSN]

A couple of years ago here, I asked about cleaning out all my papers and getting them put onto discs, uploaded to cloud, and shredding the paper.

Somebody here suggested that discs can deteriorate, and I thought cloud would get around that. So now with the Russ-aholes threatening cyber attacks, the media has said that stuff on the cloud can be hacked/abused/whatever, and that stuff should be saved to hard drive.

QUESTION 1: So, have finally got everything (including photos) on three discs and saved on the hard drive. But laptops come and go, so are thumb drives any more durable than discs?

QUESTION 2: Am looking at content of 174MB, 66.9MB, 57MB - total 297MB. I'm sure (am stupid) all three discs fit on a thumb drive?


*** BONUS QUESTION: What happens to our credit union accounts in a cyber attack - our finances are gone? Are we supposed to keep a bank Statement to claim it?

[Tetrachloride]

1. the very large banks have backups in deep mines in places like Missouri.

Triple set of disks for long term storage. and don’t necessarily throw out old computers that still work.

Strategies are many and varied.

[UTUSN]

3. ? - "triple set of discs" - "long term storage" - How does disc deterioration fit here?

I said I was dim!1

[Tetrachloride]

6. I presume humidity and heat are culprits.

Lets see what others say.

Write down your passwords and put in a laminated sheet of paper. Bury that paper.

Risky, i know.

Encryption of key stuff such as names of ex girlfriends / boyfriends and their passwords is recommended

[canuckledragger]

10. The difference between a pressed disc and a burnable one is...

The burnable discs use a dye of some sort that darkens when the laser writes to it, and have a shelf life of around 10 years or before the dye deteriorates to the point of data loss. Depending on how you take care of the disc, it's more likely to scratched up before losing any data that way.

Flash drives don't have to worry about dye deterioration, but being an electronic gadget they are susceptible to things like static electricity, so keep in a safe place away from such sources.

All the storage mediums have their pros and cons, depending on your needs and time frame.

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. I back up my business database, about 25 gigs developed over 22 years to 2 thumbdrives.

I keep them in my vehicles in an unattached garage.

[UTUSN]

4. Thanks.

[PoliticAverse]

5. Hard to say exactly how long data on a flash drive will last, but a reasonable estimate is 10 years.

Flash drives holding 64 GB can be purchased for under $ 10 these days.

[Turbineguy]

7. I would think

Solid state drives would be the best storage. And perhaps these should be stored in a Faraday cage.

[usonian]

8. My recommendation. YMMV

I'll try to keep it simple, and spare you techie detail and alternatives.

Oh my goodness, 300MB is nothing these days.

First, don't use cloud ANYTHING. Any of your data that leaves the house -- consider it gone or government property.

Second, this is so little data. Get the smallest thumb drive or SD card you can (they are basically the same thing, copy your data to one, and then another one.

Keep one with you and one somewhere else. What if there's a fire or other calamity? Yes, the dog can easily eat them.

Smallest ones I saw are like 32 GIGABYTES these days. That's about 1000X the size of your collection.

This is as future-proof as you can get. If things change drastically, for example, your future computer maker deletes USB ports and SD card readers, someone (like me) will have equipment around to help you transfer data.

That said, USB thumb drives and SD cards are going to be usable a very long time.
They are not perfect. You can snap one in two. (I've done it D'oh!) so use more than one. They're so cheap.
Reliable enough, I think, unless you are a complete klutz.


As for your credit union, they all keep backups of data. Some have been ransom-wared, but have restored wiped systems and data from backups. You have proof of your account. It's called a 1099!

Reminder: don't use a simple password on your account, or one that you use on other logins. That's ALWAYS a good idea.
Some idiot used "MAGA2020" and got hacked!

[Kali]

9. that sounds kind of low for a lot of photos

did you save them at a low resolution? personally, I think they should save a long time on discs, but if they were really important I might make another set to keep somewhere safe (bank safe deposit box?)

there is a risk of technology changing and like old floppy discs, not being able to easily find a machine to read them in the future - but you can keep an eye on that to deal at the time.

thumbdrive is good too, maybe for the second set of copies. also an external hard drive is a good option and a little harder to misplace since they are bigger than thumbdrives LOL. all will easily hold the amount of data you posted.