Cyber Security: Backups & Encryption

[@pasangamage]

This is so far the best video on youtube for data backups

[@martinwilkinson2344]

One adjunct to Schofield's law from practical experience when I was working: "a backup is only a backup if it's been restore tested". Our IT department was running daily backups of our configuration management tool database. When the database corrupted, they attempted to restore one of the backups, only to find that the backup settings were (had always been) incorrect, and actually no backups had ever been performed. This resulted in (from memory) a couple of weeks of expensive consultant time to try and recover the situation. Not so much a problem (you would hope) with cloud backups these days, and you would also hope that reputable backup software would verify the backed up data. Just something to be aware of if you do any sort of automated backup to external drives etc.

[@kychemclass5850]

Good adaptation!

[@louistournas120]

Sounds like the backup tool is not idiot proof/not well programmed. Or maybe the person was not backing up the right file? In my case, as a home user, I just robocopy command of Windows. I make 2 offline backups on HDD. I make one backup that is a 2 nd HDD in the PC. It backs up 20,000 files but I open 1 of them to see if the backup is good.

[@geoffreykeane4072]

This is not a rare occurrence in corporate databases Martin. Often a proper full backup restoration test has never occurred due to the downtime required.

[@Darkk6969]

@@geoffreykeane4072 Actually if it's something like MS SQL they can use a non-production server just to test the backups to make sure it can be restored.

[@oneeyedphotographer]

@@louistournas120 I used to work at the Department of Social Security in Canberra. It had a whole computer system and accessories to do QA testing before releasing anything to production, including the latest MVS/SE setup, including when it got maintenance from IBM applied. Bank of NSW/Westpac had its ATM network down for two days after upgrading from IMS V1 to IMS V2. They didn't have enough computer capacity to emulate a full production workload, and nothing less could reproduce the problem.. Testing software properly is testing. Very testing.

[@GregLeonhardt]

A couple additional things to remember when designing a backup system: 1) The backups need be done automatically. If you are relying on a human to start an application, push a button, etc. they will inadvertently have something else to do just before you experience your data loss or data corruption. 2) If you don't have a versioned backup, you don't have a backup period. If you are unfortunate enough to encounter ransomware you will be overwriting your good copies of the data with encrypted files. 3) Always test your backup system prior to implementing it. Waiting until you need to restore a file is not the time to discover you are missing a key component needed the restore it. I know a person who's used an encrypted backups. They had the forethought to think they might not remember the encryption key so they saved the key in a file. When the disk crashed and they needed to restore it, they couldn't remember the encryption key and the file it was saved in was on the drive that crashed. A beautiful backup system and yet everything was gone.

[@bland9876]

I thought I had a video game backed up but instead all I had was the storefront. Since that storefront is long gone I couldn't just re-download the game.

[@mickaelsflow6774]

What would you recommend for Versioned Backup? That's the one part that's... tough to identify a good option...

[@utubepunk]

@@mickaelsflow6774 File History + enabling ransomware protection in Windows. This will lock down folders so only apps you chose will be able to write/edit files in the folders you specify.

[@jamesedwards3923]

I have corrupted backups while backing up. Good thing I had a lot of drives to recover the data from. The software was doing it wrong.

[@sidbrun_]

Why would you save the encryption key on the drive itself?!?!?! How the hell do you make that kind of mistake

[@DevilsHandyman]

Yay! Backups! I worked in the backup software business for 22 years prior to my current job. I say "don't backup the data that you can afford to lose". Consider the effort to reinstall everything on your computer and get all your files back. Let that determine what method you use to backup your system and what you back up. I avoid reinstalling from scratch for the last ditch effort to recover.

[@jamesedwards3923]

I agree. Most people do a image copy of the OS partition and such. I consider that a waste of time. Unless your work requires that you get back in business. As soon as possible. Like a government or consumer site. Backing up an ISO of an image and backing up that file makes enough sense. However, I am more concerned about my critical data. If you want to save your configurations and such. For games and applications. Most allow an export of this. If all else false. Type up a file and save it. Encrypt it. Or use windows snip it tool. Backup and encrypt that file.

[@DevilsHandyman]

@@jamesedwards3923 I had so many products installed, licensed and configured when I had to install Windows 11 from scratch. All my data was fine but it took me forever to get everything back into 11. That taught me a lesson. Image once you have everything installed and then just do personal data backup. Ideally I do a full backup and incremental backup for all changes and that works well with Acronis True Image. I do my backup to the cloud and have saved myself several times restoring lost individual files.

[@gmansi]

@@DevilsHandyman Thanks for the info

[@ElmerFuddGun]

This is where a HDD still beats an SSD. Even if a HDD has an electronics failure a replacement controller can often recover the data. Of course a physically damaged disk may prevent this depending on how much damage there is (but if the drive is only being used for backup this is much less likely to occur). An HDD could also be damaged (erased or partial) by a very strong magnetic field but if that happens you likely have other things to worry about. Best to backup to as many types of media, stored in many locations as possible!

[@NCC-0000]

Plus, HDDs come in bigger storage sizes for a cheaper price compared against SSDs

[@adventureoflinkmk2]

@@NCC-0000 mmm... 20TB HDD

[@LesNewell]

If a single drive failure is going to lose important data you are doing it wrong. The only advantage of HDDs is price per TB storage.

[@louistournas120]

@Clarissa 1986 I've never heard of HDD having an encryption feature. Is that something found in Pro models?

[@bland9876]

Sounds expensive. I have a broken 3tb drive because you can't mix and match power supply cables.

[@BigRedTower]

A trick I use is, always have enough free space to fully backup the largest hard drive I have, even if that free space is spread over several smaller drives. Nothing worse than a SMART status going red, and not having a place to dump the data from the dying disk, and wasting valuable time freeing up space to accommodate the dump. As usual, great video Chris!

[@jamesedwards3923]

I actually do rough calculations based off of past drive purchases, future potentail uses, and my life expectancy. The math is not even grade school level.

[@delwoodbarker]

I'm a retired CISSP, and I appreciate this concise summary of the risks and mitigations for protecting our data. Thank you, very much.

[@kevinshumaker3753]

If using an encryption method, be SURE to keep copies of the keys in a place that would be accessible, but not WITH the drives that are encrypted. Make sure that at least one other person knows where the drives are, and where the keys are. In the event of an emergency, and you are disabled or worse, and there is info needed, stored that way... A friend had an untimely passing, and a lot of financial data was lost because there wasn't any copy of the keys, only he knew the password. Unfortunate for his family. Almost as bad would have been keeping it in a bank lockbox, but no one else having access... It takes time to process to get access...

[@ElmerFuddGun]

For USB drives put a physical *LABEL* on it AND put a read me .txt file in the root directory that contains your contact info. This makes it easy for the person to return it instead of them going through your pictures trying to find clues to who you are.

[@ElmerFuddGun]

Also give a reward $$$ and you are much more likely to get it back. You can also "label" the drive in the OS file system with your phone number so it is seen right away when it is inserted in a PC, etc.

[@gmansi]

@@ElmerFuddGun great idea

[@PS_Tube]

Another reminder from Chris for why data backups are important as this episode of Explaining Computer. 3-2-1 rule is really a handy backup strategy for data security. And 4-3-1, 5-3-2 adds necessary redundancy. Not to mention why encryption is needed for backups with life example is great addition. (And the handy tip of not relying on synchronization is a bonus.)

[@dfs-comedy]

Excellent video with very good practical advice. My backup setup works like this: My main workstation has RAIDed drives; these are automatically backed up to a RAIDed pair of USB drives. I then have a Raspberry Pi 4 with yet another RAIDed pair of USB drives to which my workstation synchronizes itself daily. The Pi 4 is always on, and it syncs itself overnight to a Pi 3 with a RAIDed pair of USB drives that lives at my sister's place a few kilometres away; those are mounted with the Linux encfs option so the data is encrypted at rest. All the synchronization is done with rsync over ssh. Some of my important software repos are also synchronized to a virtual private server that lives 200km from my city. I have another few computers in my house that serve as additional backups for my main workstation. I use RAID pairs everywhere; disk drives are so cheap that it makes no sense not to mirror them.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Hi Dianne, I love the sync to another Pi at your sister's place! :) Cool.

[@gmansi]

Fantastic Can I ask how many teras oh info do you need to backup?

[@KameraShy]

Excellent introduction. But this is truly, just a very brief introduction to get you thinking about it. Some additional thoughts: - Have a plan. Think through your situation and backup requirements which will be unique and potentially complex. - You need to decide whether backups will be file-by-file or consolidated into a single backup file. There are advantages and disadvantages to each, depending on individual situations. I do both, for different segments of my overall data collection. - TEST recovery of your data. To verify what you think is being backed up, is actually being backed up. Periodically re-test. I have had regular, automatic, working cloud backups suddenly stop being made, without notice to me. I have had other backups not contain files I thought they did.

[@jamesedwards3923]

Dude, in the next few months I am furthering my long standing procedures.

[@fattomandeibu]

Thankfully backups are more realistic to the average person now, too. I remember how every few months I'd have to spend an entire day with several hundred floppy disks just to back up the hard disk, then manually copy each disk for redundancy. Recently, I split 50/50 with my dad for a 6TB external hard disk that can back up both our computers completely with plenty of space left and cost a meagre(at least for the capacity) £100 as our offline local back up, with optical discs for redundancy. This video does now pose the question on how to sort out an off site backup. We have too much to use the cloud without having to pay a subscription, but I guess a backup copy of the optical discs with a friend would be the most realistic price wise.

[@jamesedwards3923]

Backing up and encrypting data. Has always been normal for everybody. I still have papers from collage in an old dump folder I have from a long time ago. For others it is their system configurations. For most of us it is financial records, photos, etc. Most of the people I know. Only backup on the cloud. Not hard drives at all. Even if you include COVID-19 and the recent war in Europe. Hard drives are cheap. SSDs are more expensive. Tape drives have been around forever. I always ask people, "what happens if your cloud account is hacked?" Everybody knows that most users are completely lazy with backing up and securing their tech. We live in an era of technological laziness. I am still evaluating and testing new security and data protocols. If you knew the conversations I have had with users. Keep in mind I am considered the 'defacto' expert amongst most I know. The hacks and idiotic behaviors. I pretty much do not even try anymore. I have done all I can to educate and encourage. Showed all the education and examples of the worst and best case scenarios.

[@cdl0]

*Good video.* Two more tips: (1) RAID storage is often built using drives of the same type. A fault I have seen is where all the drives fail nearly simultaneously in a RAID array with the same fault owing to a manufacturing flaw common to all the drives. Thus, I recommend using a mixture of drives from different manufacturers, or from different batches. (2) There are periodic incremental backup schemes for Unix-type operating systems that involve creating hard filesystem links when files are unchanged on each backup cycle rather than copying whole files, while storing new copies of changed files and new files, and not creating links when files are removed.

[@RogerioPereiradaSilva77]

Linux user here. Good old rdiff-backup and rsnapshot come to mind. But I've come to appreciate newer solutions such as restic and my personal favorite, borg backup.

[@cdl0]

@@RogerioPereiradaSilva77 Yes! Absolutely right! These are all excellent solutions.

[@LesNewell]

BTRFS and ZFS have snapshots which do this automatically. A snapshot allows you to effectively freeze the filesystem's state at any given time and view/restore it at a later date.

[@dagance]

The best video on KZbin I found on this topic. Instead of just saying "use 3-2-1 rule" with no explanation why, you've actually managed to reason about those things really well. Thanks!

[@alanthornton3530]

Another interesting video from EC, I follow most of what Chris has shown about security & backups except using cloud storage! Backups are on 2 external hard drives, 6 USB drives & several DVD's! I've learnt the hard way spending hours reinstalling from CD's & DVD's, software, pictures, music & documents etc, to an old Vista PC when the motherboard died! I'm looking forward to the next video :)

[@louistournas120]

If the motherboard died, then it is not a problem. Remove the HDD and connect it to a working PC.

[@studiotwo]

Depending upon your backup strategy, files that get accidentally deleted (and do not get noticed straight away) are always going to be an issue. Thanks for another great video.

[@RogerioPereiradaSilva77]

Not that data duplication doesn't have its uses - personally I love rsync and librsync-based tools for its simplicity - but most people should rely on incremental versioned backups. I tend to keep a few months of incremental backups on an external hard drive using borg backup so if I lose a file for whatever reason, it is easy to retrieve it from the backup. And if I don't notice it after a few months, chances are that I will not miss it too much further down the road anyway. This is also similarly useful when data gets silently corrupted.

[@gmansi]

@@RogerioPereiradaSilva77 Really good point

[@johngangemi1361]

The question for creating a backup and archiving plan. How much data, time and money are you prepared to lose? This should be on the front of everyone's mind. Great video as always.

[@derekgliddon]

Chris, really a big thank you for your superbly planned and produced videos. Good practice videos (like this) enable efficient, reliable home computing experience are beyond invaluable. Your ability to say what needs to be said, no more no less, in an accessible style sets you apart. It's clear you understand your target audience. Keep up the good work. Wishing you continued success.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks. :)

[@bruce1437]

I think many of us have learned the hard way how important backing up is, thanks Chris

[@spyder001]

And many still don't have a backup.

[@ExplainingComputers]

So true. I remember some years ago my Head of Department in the university had all of his files on his HDD and on the network. And ransomware destroyed the lot. It happens. He really was not happy.

[@bobwong8268]

I know the Grandfather, Father & Son rules for backing up. "Your backup isn't yours if you couldn't restore it!" So, knowing is 1 thing, getting organised & keeping the routine is another. Cloud storage has definately make off-site storage more accessible. Well, guess I should get my NAS sooner.

[@ExplainingComputers]

@@GerardMenvussa This is interesting, and I may well now make a ransomware video. Certainly backups being encrypted by ransomware before you know is something that happens (if those drives are locally online).

[@jamesdinsmore9022]

A good follow up would be a primer on firewalls and antivirus across various platforms. I used to feel it was enough to be using Linux; but the world is changing. Recently someone created a Instagram account using my FB photo and tried to get information from my FB contacts; I do not know how to protect myself and my social network from that kind of threat apart from not having social media.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Now this is a great idea that I had not thought of as "part three". Noted! :)

[@AndrewAHayes]

Is it possible to have a closed private loop between your FB account and your friends? I don't use FB as from what I gathered when it became popular was that it was a gossip platform

[@johnphilippatos]

@@AndrewAHayes Gossip platform doesn't begin to describe it. I'm into computers since mid 80's and I still haven't subscribed in fb, instagram, or any other platform of the kind. I'm kind of a fossil I guess...

[@joerussophil]

Facebook is not your friend. Do the world a favor and delete your account. Do your self a favor and be free from anti-social media.

[@wutzman]

Easysiest way to protect against such thread is to not openly show pictures of you and those you want to protect. Mind your privacy settings and dont use a picture of yourself as profile pic. Always pay attention that only your closest can see your private data such as pictures in your social media profiles. Best way to protect yourself, is of course, as allready stated before, to not participate in social media at all.

[@lionelreesable]

Thank you very much for the timely video. I will revisit my backup strategies. Your video transported me back to my childhood where the Vicar/Headmaster of the parish school would always tell us that, “A word to the wise is sufficient”. Best wishes.

[@UKSCIENCEORG]

Great advice. I have lost count of how many times one of my students have walked away at the end of a PC lab Practical and left their USB drive in the desktop machine. I advise them to put their name on the drive so it is easy to return. I would like to advise them about encryption - but even SciEng students are not very 'computer savvy' these days - all are experts on phone apps!.

[@ExplainingComputers]

I remember this kind of behaviour -- I taught students in labs for about 20 years, and they were always leaving unlabelled FDDs or USB drives in machines. And they would leave themselves logged-in and wonder why their print credit disappeared . . .

[@keylanoslokj1806]

How do you encrypt it

[@whatamalike]

​@ExplainingComputers oh god I was definitely guilty of that 😅 One time in college, the pc I was using froze so I turned it off at the wall socket...or thought I did. I'd actually turned off the pc of the girl sitting next to me and she'd not saved anything from what she'd been working on that day! To say we both learned from that accident is a massive understatement.

[@alupci]

I personally recommend 3 2 1 backup. Unfortunately, most of employers or operation managers do not take very seriously recommendations of IT staff as they feel they are spending money for the same thing. Some even do not prefer to go with redundant internet provider. Once incident happens the one who they blame is the same IT staff who recommended all this before.

[@thomasbriggs4718]

I worked at an animation shop that was behaving like this. We were in the final week of a $800k project when the server started acting up. We all had been yelling about the danger of not having a reliable backup, to no avail. I routinely kept a backup of the project in an external drive just for peace of mind. Then the server failed. My boss and I strolled over to the IT guy’s office and told him not to worry, we were safely backed up. The phones were ringing and the managers were screaming we would be sued out of business if it weren’t fixed and the job missed its delivery date. We all just kept saying ‘we warned you’. We decided to let them sweat for about four hours. I hope we made our point.

[@fetchstixRHD]

“Once incident happens the one who they blame is the same IT staff who recommended all this before.” Of course, it’s always easy for them to talk when they know little to nothing of what they’re talking about, and don’t have to take personal responsibility for it. Similar to e.g. security, other support, safety: if you do your job well, they forget what you do and why you’re needed, and when they make cuts and start feeling them, they ask why they’re bothering to fund you when you’re not as effective as when you had much more support.

[@UziRyder1]

Been there. Done that.

[@gmansi]

@@thomasbriggs4718 😄

[@cesar_onada]

I love your videos Mr. Barnatt. They are full of detail and cover a wide range of cases. You could make your videos twice as long and I would still enjoy them. For a non-native English speaker like me, your speaking cadence and diction are very welcome as well. Thank you for your work. Greetings from Spain.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks! :) And greetings from the UK.

[@joeg3950]

A topic that many people don’t think about until it’s too late. Thanks!

[@slimhazard]

9:55 Well then, Mr. Scissors has more of whatever-it-is than Stanley the Knife, who has more of the something-or-other than Mr. Screwdriver. This is indeed highly sensitive information, emphasizing the need for robust and secure backup.

[@jasonmonk7336]

Its appearance fees that have been taken by their enterprising talent manager, one Mr C

[@ExplainingComputers]

:)

[@louistournas120]

I think he is measuring MTBF.

[@jasonmonk7336]

@@louistournas120 Stanley the Knife, 10 new blades, 2 new handles. Same old Stanley 😊

[@homemedia4325]

I learned the hard way many years ago... RAID is not a backup... ...you should have posted this vid before KZbin existed and saved me from my data loss... ...superb explanation Chris!!

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks.

[@BeOurBee]

I have to congratulate you on those clear, understandable diagrams and illustrations. Those are really great! They stand on their own, but also complement the narration very well to help retention of the information. The contents of the video fall into the "stuff I already knew" category, but I wanted to give your hard work a thumbs-up. Job well done!

[@jasonluong3862]

The advantage of using cloud storage, particularly one that you pay for instead of a freebie, is the files are backed up in different versions. I had the need to recover a corrupted file that had been synced to Google Drive recently. It was easy. Simply right-click on the said file, choose recovery to a previous version, choose the appropriate date, and that version was recovered. With that said, having an offline local storage is important too. The thing about backups is the more complicated the regimen, the less likely it will be followed consistently. So the best goldielock routine is using cloud synchronization such as Google Drive and once in a while, make a full copy of the contents of that cloud drive and store that copy locally on an external drive or NAS. This way, there are at least 2 distinct copies without involving a convoluted process.

Thanks a lot Chris for another great video on EC. Many people do not put enough time for a secure backup strategy, unfortunately some time my self too. So its always good, to get a trigger like this video, to think again about the current sate of of your own backup strategy. The first use case for me is to categorize the data importance - (1. self generated data 2. videos, picture, music, downloaded, etc). Its obviously, that the self generated data is by far the most important one. Based on that I have setup a backup strategy. Which works quite well, but e.g. I'd like to have a solution, that makes a real time backup for my self generated data but currently I do just a weekly backup triggered by the windows task scheduler which is obviously not optimal. Never the less thanks a lot again foe this video.

[@robbhalverson7725]

Most excellent video as always! You have forgotten to mention the possibility of loss of data after a Windows update. Although my data was not deleted after a Windows update, Windows had a issue after an update where even if I was signed in under my user name, it treated me like a secondary user and would not let me access my data that I needed right away. If I didn't have a backup plan like yours I would have messed around for another day before getting access to my data again instead of having the ease of using my backups. Thanks to you my crisis was avoided.

[@ExplainingComputers]

A very good point!

[@ConfuSomu]

Backing up data before a software upgrade is always a good thing to do. You never know when there might be a problem with the new software which could result in data loss.

[@ardithconley2628]

Brings back a lot of memories. How I done both profession and my own security. One thing I would at no matter what system you use the key is not so much the method of back up but the ability to restore your files back for what ever reason of loss. If that is not tried and tested a person or company can find themselves in a lot of trouble. Believe me I've been there.

[@cyberp0et]

A very necessary reminder to backup my data. I have been delaying this for a while. Another aspect is the file system in which to format the backup drives. If fat32 or exFat /NTFS for using with Windows computers and Linux or ext4 only for Linux. One thing to keep in mind: The fat32 can only store files up to 4 Gb in size.

[@jamesedwards3923]

Make sure it is something your computers past, present, and future can read. Especially documents and images. Images for example. I doubt .jpeg is going anywhere in the next 50 years. You are gona use FAT32? In my opinion. Bad idea. I use NTFS myself. Can be read by Linux and Windows. If Microsoft got wiped out tomorrow. I know I can read my data.

[@cyberp0et]

@@jamesedwards3923 NTFS and EXT4 will do.

[@KonfusedKris]

Losing or forgetting the password for an encrypted backup is a really common problem (a lot more likely than some of the other very real threats Chris mentions). I personally use an online password manager (lastpass) to keep track of the passwords I use. I'm not sure trusting an web service to all my passwords is 100% secure, but there is no way i'd remember otherwise.

[@Graham_Rule]

Your video landed just before I was about to go out. I'll take a few extra minutes to make an up to date backup to take with me. It is only when I run incremental backups that I realise just how much had changed since the previous one despite me thinking that I've not done a lot. I used to work with mainframe computers and we had a 3-2-1 strategy - spindryers of disk platters, locally held room full of reel to reel tapes, and a second copy of those tapes held offsite. As we had two sites the advantage of this was that in the event of a disk file being lost and the local tape being unreadable (not common as they were regularly rewritten and verified) we could load it at the external site and transfer it across. Admittedly, if there were more than a few files to do this with it was probably quicker to transport the tape by van.

[@georgemaragos2378]

HI - reminds me of a story i was told in mid 80's about one of my team leaders 5 to 10 years earlier ( very late 70's early 80's ) , on site data entry was done and a tape was produced by 4pm-5:50 pm - all of the days order taking and changes So my team leader would report to work at 7am ( he lived local ), take the tape out of the safe and take the train to the data processing centre say 30-40 mins away ( about 30 kilometers ). They would begin processing tape load and processing, he would go to local coffee shop / park / shopping centre and wait 2 to 3 hours He had a early version of a pager - it just sounds a beep - it was not text compatible , when it went off he just called the answering service and they relayed a message eg Tape loaded / tape processed / tape failed If the message was tape failed - he went back to work and picked up the spare copy, which was processed after all the other work was done and ready by 9-10am He would get the back up and go back and they would load that spare tape This was his job for about 8 years, it was made obsolete with a land line - 2400 bps connecting the 2 sites He also had a reputation for getting back in time for lunch then taking lunch then comming back doing about a hours work and then going home for the day :)

[@waynenewark5363]

As an old mainframe developer I have seen over the years the improvements that have taken place with regards to backups. Unfortunately the PC and Windows server side still has a long way to catch up.

[@juappdev]

On thing this video doesn't mention: in certain jurisdictions, if you encrypt your data you may run into serious trouble in the future if you are legally compelled to decrypt the data and you have either "mislaid" or "forgotten" the password/decryption key.

[@ExplainingComputers]

This is a very good point, which I should have included.

[@LesNewell]

Veracrypt has a function to create hidden containers. They are pretty much invisible until you unlock them. I'm sure a data forensics specialist could find the container but if your data is that sensitive you should be implementing some industrial strength security.

[@alexmartian3972]

What are these jurisdictions? Arab Emirates or /and USA? Only particular states?

[@VideomasterPDB]

I'm having to use the 3-2-1 rule for university as I don't want to risk my project thesis being lost and causing a last minute scramble for anything. multiple copies is a must, and when buying a new laptop, an external drive should always be considered as an additional purchase. Great video and looking forward to more. I may need to look into encryption more so that veracrypt may be good for me. Maybe make another simple guide of other simple drive encryption softwares or just go into the concept more

[@MrSpengler1234]

Another good video. The importance of regular backups can never be understated. It's also a good idea to set up an automated backup procedure with robust software. Macrium Reflect has always worked for me.

[@LesNewell]

Also test your backups occasionally. Try restoring data and make sure you can get it back. If your backups are automated, again check them every so often to make sure the backups are still running correctly.

[@christopherleadholm6677]

Hello, fellow Christopher! Back again! I like the 3-2-1 rule, but that's optimal. It always turns into 3 backups of 2 other backups from a backup thats been dissected from three back-ups ago, that winds up on two or more different storage media types, not just individual devices. 🙃 Its mad out there. Stay safe.

[@osamakamel9526]

Thanks great video

[@holgerwikingsen713]

As Tech Deals (youtube channel) once said: "There are two kinds of people in this world: People who have lost their data and people who will lose their data". You know it's going to happen.

[@ExplainingComputers]

I'm not sure this has to be true -- and most companies would certainly not agree!

[@geoffreykeane4072]

Many years ago I used a USB stick for work archiving that I kept on a lanyard along with my work photo ID. One day I looked down and there on the lanyard was the USB stick’s cap still on the lanyard with the drive itself gone. The damn lanyard attached to the cap not the stick itself! I still see USB sticks configured this way.

[@thewatcher5271]

Hey Professor! Yeah, I Learned About The Ol' 3-2-1 During My Tenure At Softdisk Back In The '90's. Some Memories Never Fade But You Always Make It Interesting!

[@Colin_Ames]

Thanks for reminding me that my backup strategy is virtually nonexistent. I needed this kick in the rear to address the situation.

[@davidglenn6468]

A good reminder of my first computer studies teacher who always told new students that the first 3 rules of computer management are, backup, backup & backup some more!

[@SaxaphoneMan42]

fantastic video, the more easy learning videos like these about general Cyber Security, the better. Its becoming more and more important every day.

[@mikiethebikie]

Thanks Chris, this was a very important and well delivered piece. I am old enough to have seen all manner of catastrophes where backups are involved. Thanks once again.

[@parrotraiser6541]

Excellent summary of the questions. I'll endorse the password-protected USBs. I would add just 2 points. Some data will have different degrees of of sensitivity and relevant lifetimes. Vacation videos probably don't justify the hassle of encryption, (unless your activities are... unorthodox), while financial records might. If you have a backup strategy, you have to ensure it's automated somehow. If it doesn't happen without human intervention, it won't happen.

[@offspringfan89]

Great video as usual, Chris. Unfortunately, I learnt the importance of having backups the hard way: a laptop HDD once died and I lost a lot of personal data, and I tell you the feeling is horrible, I was quite depressed for a while. Since then, I have at least two backups of important files, and also do regular backups of system partitions. There's a saying among IT community that whoever has X backups, actually has X-1 backups.

[@gmansi]

😂😂😂

[@ARTCvan]

I've actually erased an SD card with important documents on it (it was only a few days ago!) and didn't follow the 3-2-1 backup rule. It's fortunate that I had some info on another USB drive, but it really goes to show that the 3-2-1 backup rule is really important.

[@dougr.8653]

I have 6 terabytes of backup spread across 8 different external hard drives. 😂😂 I’m not counting the hundreds of DVDs that I have been burning for the last 12 years. If I don’t have at least two copies of a file, I can’t rest 😬😬. Thanks for the video, Mr. Barnatt.

[@dougr.8653]

@Clarissa 1986 thanks for the tip. 👍✌️

[@PeteVanDemark]

“A power surge or lightning strike will happily fry the lot.” Truer words were never spoken!

[@MichaelBeeny]

The flash drive was fine but the house was destroyed, no back up for THAT one.

[@rjrobera3191]

Great video reminder about secured backup, hope to implement it very soon in 3-2-1.

[@MusicToTheEars141]

I love your cybersecurity videos. They're so useful.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks. :)

[@tubegor]

A sunday without an ExplainingComputer is possible, but pointless.

[@ExplainingComputers]

:)

[@kaltonian]

as always another in depth & very useful topic for this day & age....thank you my good sir

[@HackDaBox]

Excellent as always … As a follow up could you do an episode on Undelete and unformat and file and drive recovery. Also an explanation of how deleting a file doesn’t actually delete it it just clears the first bit on the FAT ( file allocation table ) but the file still exists and similarly with a quick format of a drive doesn’t really delete all data and the importance of zeroing out a drive with sensitive ( such as financial ) information !

[@ExplainingComputers]

Nice video idea for a future episode -- noted with thanks. :)

[@ACompExp]

I feel like talking slow at one take for each scene is the best thing people can do, as they can speak almost fully fluently and they don't have to retake. You showed that very well, like that. :)

[@kb7yim960]

I did learn the hard way, more than once. Thank you for "Explaining" this subject. Helped me.

[@veritanuda]

Good overview as usual and I would just add another truism to a backup is 2 copies and that is "Backups are worthless, restores are priceless" No point in backing up data if you have not tested restoring it from a backup as well. Something a lot of people neglect alas.

[@martinwilkinson2344]

Great stuff, backups always viewed as boring by most people, until they lose data, then all of a sudden it becomes a very interesting topic!

[@Urosaurus]

Thanks very much. I think it’s time that I take inventory of all of my old USB thumb drives from the last two decades.

[@erlinglorentsen4262]

Regarding personal data storage categories: I admit that the possibility is scarcely used personally but having your own nas drives on 2 or 3 separate locations with say a weekly backup isn't cloud based as it is your own hardware. It would be "Remote online storage"

[@Part_Time_Fox]

What a wonderful video just in time because I lost all my data on my SSD 🙃 the other day. I will be using this moving forward.

[@CooChewGames]

Not sure I can agree about the optical discs for long-term storage; I have done this and they were mostly unreadable a few years later. I believe they oxygenate over time but they became unreadable. I think that the SSD is a pretty good long-term solution. Also want to congratulate you on raising such an important topic too; I hope people take heed :-)

[@jamesedwards3923]

There is new technology that deals with this. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-DISC You can also invest in old school, but still viable tape drives. They still exist. They still work. Military and Civilians still use them for long term storage.

[@jamesedwards3923]

Actually, not as much as you think. You should plug in the drive once in a blue moon. I am searching for the articles. However, from what I remember reading. Not much different than a hard drive.

[@Wol747]

Well explained as usual, Christopher. After many attempts to get programs such as Acronis to work to my requirements, I now back up my data HD to a selection of SSDs and removable HDs manually. It only takes a few seconds to fire up the backup medium and drag the entire folder across then just let it do its work for an hour or so. Although I also back up the Thunderbird and Firefox profiles it’s not that important. I think that if I do lose the computer’s drive information I’ll want to reformat anyway and reinstall the programs so cloning the C drive isn’t worth it - in any case I’ve found that it’s best to reinstall Windows every year or so anyway.

[@MrMftech]

As always, concise and precise explanations !

[@joelviolinpiano]

Thank you for another interesting topic. Better data backup, something I need to do personally. This is very helpful, thanks again.

[@NapierNimbus]

I preach the motto "backup or shut up". I do an off-line backup at end of every day, and cloud storage but that is synchronised, have noted your comment about that.

[@paulstubbs7678]

Nice article, now all that is needed is to get through to the mobile phone fraternity that keep way to much only on their phones. I remember one poor lady, in tears, on talk back radio, pleading for her phone back, which had her only photo's & vid's of her child, now on his last days in hospital.... Be wary of on-line phone backups, these services can abruptly come to an end far too quickly after you 'lose' your phone, then all is lost.

[@DialM4Microcontrollr]

As noted at 4:00 RAID is not backup! Too many people fail to see that.

[@ne0ne0]

Thanks a lot for this very well presented video! Exactly for the reasons you mentioned regarding security, I always use restic in combination with naeon to store my backup (chunks) in untrusted environments like the cloud. That way I avoid having to depend on the cloud hosting provider when it comes to proper encryption key management.

[@ditzydoo4378]

Lovely video. As the victim of data hacking and storage crash loss. I do know the pain of such loss. I am following your 3-2-1 model, but didn't know about the DataShur pro. I will give this a look see. Thank you for all you do.

[@darklingdesigns]

I make weekly backups to external HDDs, but I also have a Backblaze B2 account with buckets setup for all my computers. I use Duplicati to make encrypted backups to B2 on a daily schedule. I currently have about 180 GBs stored on B2 and it costs less than one dollar a month. Retrieval is not much more if needed. Online backups can be very cheap as long as you have the bandwidth to effectively use them.

[@jim0_o]

Since this (at least how I see it) is a DIY kind of channel a follow up to this could be on just using Syncthing, you can sync files over many machines and most operating systems, you'll basically be your own Cloud service. recently they added an "untrusted" mode where you can have a machine do backups but not have access to the files it is backing up. You can also configure Syncthing to keep files that have been deleted either for up to a year or forever. ex. You could have a Raspberry Pi booting off a USB HDD that syncs your PC your Phone etc. and you could even setup another Raspberry Pi the same way except you treat it as untrusted and you could install it anywhere with a internet connection without worrying about people looking into the files. I'm no evangelist it just seemed perfect for some of the needs brought up in this video also its free of charge while you're also in control of your own files.

[@RogerioPereiradaSilva77]

Syncthing is awesome and I'll second your recommendation however it should be noted that Syncthing essentially is an automated rsync of sorts and thus it should not replace a proper backup solution. Or it shouldn't be your primary backup solution, at least. If data is silently corrupted or you don't even realize that a file is gone until much later then Syncthing will simply replicate it on the other copies. It is the same with rsync. Personally I've grown fond of borg backup on Linux. It is a truly _set and forget_ sort of thing that takes care of everything for you and even checks consistency of your backups periodically.

[@nigelhsenior]

I always find the challenge is not setting up a reliable secure mechanism, but one that I or others can access once I get old or drop off my perch.

[@brentsummers7377]

People who change their operating systems (distro hopping) are at great risk of user error and data loss! What you think you have backed up may not be. Something quite important but you have forgotten to back up. Number of items lost by Google Drive = Zero! Very good advice in this video. Re. DVDs I have holiday photos from over 10 years ago & the DVDs still read just fine.

[@wolfmobile3693]

If you want to increase the chances of getting your USB drive back, put an unencrypted document on your flash drive with your email and offer a small reward. Such as double what the drive would cost at retail.

[@Patrick_AUBRY]

Thanks for doing an important synthesis of data management strategies available for the pleb! 👍

[@KrisRyanStallard]

A local backup is so important. I've learned the hard way to not rely on the service provider to always have my data. When Google Play Music shut down, I didn't realize I wouldn't be able to download MP3 files of my purchased music after the transition to KZbin Music. I effectively lost several hundred dollars worth of music.

[@SE-lc4hm]

Do they not offer a transfer over service

[@KrisRyanStallard]

@@SE-lc4hm They "transferred" my music, but to listen to it ad free or download it I have to subscribe to the service. The download is DRM protected, not a plain MP3 like they had before.

[@inquisitive.lurker]

Omg

[@craigbourne4792]

Thank you for this. have lost a lot of file's pic's etc over the year's, this has helped me to understand it a bloody lot ...

[@sbc_soc_tinkerer]

Another fine videoooo. Thank you sir! My primary file server has a RAID setup as does my primary backup server. My second backup drive gets the files and then goes offline so it is only online during the running of the backup. Only non-private files i.e. financial, medical etc go to a Cloud provider this way I can access those anytime I wish. I like the idea of offsite being "in your pocket" since I have no way of doing it otherwise, other than cloud, which as previously stated, is not for private documents. With the persistent threat of ransomeware and other assorted nastiness... encrypt EVERYTHING.

[@HR-wd6cw]

RAID (specifically a 1, 5 or 10) only protects you from drive failure. Doesn't protect you from failure from the NAS itself though. I still go by the 3-2-1 backup strategy regardless. Although I do keep 3 different backups, all at different locations (at home offline, at-home online -- NAS, safe deposit box, and a copy at work) all on different media. When I'm traveling, I will usually bring 2 SSD drives, so I have a copy on my laptop or tablet, and then a copy on the SSD drive which stays with the laptop (and is mainly meant for hardware failure or if the tablet gets stolen) and then a third copy on the other SSD which I take with me. So that way there is always at least two copies of data in two different locations (I'm not always able to backup to the cloud when traveling as many hotels have very slow Internet so I've done this instead).

[@spyder001]

Great episode, good level explanation for basic home use.

[@BenQuigley]

I have to say, I really love this channel, always gives me the old style BBC videos feels

[@slimhazard]

The thing about backups is that it‘s conceptually very much like insurance, which means above all that for the most part, it sucks. It‘s just that when you do need it, you‘re glad you have it. Backups and insurance are similar in that both require a long-term commitment and investment (money and time), all based on the premise that nearly all the time, you won‘t need it. Some people don‘t get one or the other or both of backups and insurance, or not enough, and one day they get burned. Most of us at some point realize the importance of being conscientious about backups and insurance, and do it right for a good while, but in the long run it‘s very easy to let it slide. I‘m certainly not knocking the video, Chris explains all the reasons why you really have to do it well, and some ways to do it fairly easily and cheaply. The challenge is keeping up the necessary energy for the endurance sport that backup is. You have to keep at it, for the rest of your life. Or for at least as long as you have data that you don‘t want to lose, which for most of us in these modern times really is the rest of our lives.

[@mrlescure]

So you're saying that when I need my backup I'll be frustrated by all kinds of red tape designed to prevent me from taking advantage of it?

[@slimhazard]

@@mrlescure Fortunately the similarities don't extend that far. If the backup exists and you need it, you're not going to have an army of bureaucrats doing everything they can to prevent you from getting it.

[@rogerkoh1979]

Ransom ware is a problem. People lost lots of data. Agree backup help in such problem. Depend on how important the data is make more copy of it. Encryption is a must for private or sensitive data.

[@MrRoko91]

One of the reasons I use write once media as BD-R 😉

[@СергейД-ч4ь]

Nice video, thanks! As for me, the more and more important problem is how to comfortably and realliably manage ever increasing number of passwords.

[@NewAgeDIY]

Hi Chris, in today’s cyber environment that has your personal data stored in multiple website around the world, understanding how security works a must have requirement. New users are now targeted by cyber criminals looking for user errors. Today’s video will help keep us all safe.

[@AMDRADEONRUBY]

Yeah Sunday again my favorite day. Have a nice week Christopher. Miguel

[@ExplainingComputers]

You too!

[@frankenberry9670]

Most fire safes, particularly ones designed and priced for home use are for paper documents. The locked box gets hot, the lining absorbs the oxygen and the paper doesn't burn. Once the fire is over you wait for the box to cool down, a lot, and then open it. If you open it too soon the really hot but unburnt paper immediately combusts. Things that are heat sensitive won't survive so something else is needed.

[@vijfsnippervijf]

Keeping a hard copy of your important document in there does work though.

[@srtcsb]

Smart backups. Yes indeed. Thanks for another great video Chris.

[@smaraggi]

Great video and topics. Congrats for the very successful channel!

[@gregh.g.83]

Thanks

[@ExplainingComputers]

Thanks for your support, most appreciated. :)

[@GeorgeConey]

Great video. Can you provide details of the anti-static HDD sleeves and the peli case? Do you use special anti-static foam in the peli case?

[@BBQJOE22]

I would love to see cybersecurity being addressed on this channel, please more!

[@martinwilkinson2344]

I recently had Windows 10 on my lowish end laptop (I didn't have any option before you lay into me). Hated it. Anyway, one day it suddenly decided that I needed to enter the Bitlocker password when I booted up. Thing is, I had NEVER installed, toyed with or otherwise used Bitlocker on the laptop (or any other PC I've owned). I know about full drive encryption (having used Trucrypt for work). I tried some recovery, but (obviously) Bitlocker is designed to be difficult/impossible to crack without the key, so the drive was trashed. That did not improve my opinion of it. I am now on Linux running W7 in a VM for my W7 applications and it works a treat.

[@dezmondwhitney1208]

Personal Error caused my data loss. This helps a lot-Great !

[@elmolewis9123]

What a great presentation. And perfect timing for me.

[@Some1Something]

Good to know buying a HDD was the correct choice. I'm now looking for a cross-platform cloud solution (iOS, Android, Linux, Mac OS, and windows. Would be a nice bonus if I can also use it as psudo-USB drive). Thanks for the video. It will help me when I try to convince people to use backups.