Thursday, November 19, 2009

Encryption For Internet Security

These days when no information seems safe online, people have been considering file and disk encryption. Sometimes, they don't even understand what it is. They just know it's a security measure they must take to ensure that they need not face the worst from being thieved of their data.

So what is encryption? Encryption is basically the process of presenting a piece on information in coded form. This means that human being will not be able to understand such information unless it is decoded or decrypted. Encryption is an effective way of protecting data traveling over the web and it is, in fact, one of the most used and reliable techniques in cryptography which is a body of scientific principles that promote safe communications.

Cryptogrpahy has a lot of ways but on the Internet, it it makes use of long series of numbers which can be decoded using certain algorithms. Some of these algorithms make use of only one key for encryption and decryption which means a key used for encrypting is the same key that will be used for decoding the data. In other cases, encryption uses one key and decryption will require another. The safer one to use is obviously the latter.

Generally, these keys are responsible for protecting the data that is contained in a piece of encrypted information. Internet browsers are currently using the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to ensure that information entered by online customers are adequately protected as this travels from the customer's computer to the businessman's server. SSL encryption also relies on keys and this is the reason why before buying anything online, it is important that the site has an SSL certificate which means data entered into it will be traveling encrypted.

The rule is, the longer the key or the greater number of bits there are, the safer the encryption is. This is because it is generally easier to come up with different bit combinations and try them out. For example, if you have a 2-bit encryption, you can easily come up with four different combinations, try each one and eventually decrypt the information. However, with a 128-bit encryption, there are at least 309,485,009,821,345,068,724,781,056 combinations possible. According to experts, 128-bit encryption can be good enough for a period of ten years which is probably the amount of time it would take for all such combinations to be tried.

Internet security is mostly a matter of having a good understanding of the risks involved as well as knowing what must be done to reduce the risks. In terms of general Internet safety, one can rely on an IP changing software which is a program designed to allow a user to surf the Internet with his IP address hidden.

Remember that an IP address is a computer's unique identifier when it connects with any other computer on the Internet. This means that whatever a hacker can do, he can do it because he knows his victim's IP address. Naturally, when you hide your IP, you're safe from hackers. Thus, with an IP changer alone, you can be assured of significant Internet threat protection.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Why Online Backup is Important - Safeguard Your Data on the Internet

Information is what makes the world go round. In the business world, any organization stores thousands or millions of data everyday for the use in their venture. Sales receipts, pricelist, manifests, and portfolios -- every single data is stored in a database for various uses. What do you think would happen if your precious data is suddenly wiped out from your storage? Let me introduce to you the concept of online backup.

Online Storage

The Internet is not only for the function of disseminating information to every individual in the planet. Today, those who have access to the Internet is capable of utilizing online storage sites to safeguard their files and having access to it wherever they go. The concept of online backup is simple -- store data that can be accessed from any computer console at your disposal.

Safeguard Data

Database backup offsite has its own advantages and disadvantages, but the benefits tend to outweigh the possible drawbacks that come with it. For starters, you can easily upload any form of data to your online servers with ease. You can backup your files through FTP, or Web-based environment for data upload and download.

Benefits

Online backup offers every individual the convenience of having access to important data from any computer console available. Let's take your Webmail for example, you can access your mails from any computer -- all you need to do is to login to your account and your done. Same is with the case of file backup online. You just need to login to your account, utilize built-in applications for uploading files, that's it!

Also, online backup is your last resort in case of emergencies -- like someone accidentally wiped out your entire database on your company's computer. You need not worry sine you have all the information from your latest backup and you can immediately download it to your computer to restore organization functions without having to worry too much about it.

Keep in mind, however, that human initiative is essential for a successful utilization of file backup online. Set a date or time for a routine backup to ensure that restoration of these relevant data is up-to-date. It might also be best to limit people who have access to your backup to avoid tampering.

Online backup is a necessity in today's business. Trusting too much on your private servers might lead to unrecoverable loss later on when you don't have a backup online to restore company operations.