Security and Backup

[Apaullo]

Hah! now that you mentioned it Sheila, I remember it was years ago, here in our company we back up our data every night and that night I was the one responsible for backing up. I was in the root directory of the server that I am suppose to back up and then I press the wrong button boom! all the transactions that day went poof! deleted! So I rollback the server to yesterday's back up and the next day I was like in a firing range waiting to get shot by a thousand bullets from acctg, treasury and budget divisions lols!

[mariesheila]

Whew! What an experience Apaullo! It really will give a "moral lesson" always remember to store a backup for all data files because you would never know when you're going to need it.

[Apaullo]

Well, the root folder is always vulnerable since it has no backup of its own, it is the raw data, that you still have to back up..when that folder is deleted so is all the files YOU ARE YET TO BACK UP

[mariesheila]

I see, it goes back to really being extra careful not to reformat any data or providing great security option to the folders that needs to be updated every once in a while.

[Maximus]

I believe, that we must continue discussing the security aspect. Herein, I will aim at some additional security activities and best security practices.

We are already discussing the SSL certificates in another thread, so I will not write about SSL now. However, SSL must be at least mentioned in this thread, because of its importance for the securing of the transferred data.

FTP security – You must secure all FTP transfers by a third party software or with the usage of SFTP. The reason for this security measure is the unsecured environment of the direct FTP transfers. When you are sending through unsecured FTP, the files/information could be accessed by a *****, because there is no encryption. The latest version of the FTP protocol is SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol). With this FTP version your information will be protected by a 128-bit encryption.

I`m waiting for your questions, ideas, and opinion on this subject.

[Apaullo]

I have a vague experience with FTP...as I understand once the ***** secured the IP ADDRESS of the FTP, he can gain access on it no matter what your pass are, it can be hacked, but there are providers for FTP right? Is it not their responsibility to secure the services they offer? Or is it the sole responsibility of the user of the FTP to secure its contents?

[Maximus]

Hey Apaullo. FTP is just a protocol, and the security of the transfered information depends on the chosen FTP protocol. I haven`t heard about FTP providers, but yes, there are FTP software clients. However, these FTP applications are only making the file transfers more ``user friendly``, but the used FTP protocol stays the same. The type of used FTP is a choice made by you, so the responsibility is yours as a webmaster. SFTP is a good solution in this line of thoughts. You can find additional info about SFTP in my previous post.

[Apaullo]

Hmmm..by what I meant by FTP Providers is like for example, I was working for my Boss who has a Seedbox, well of course it must have FTP right? And as I can remember, he said that he contacted the provider that we can actually Seed unlimited software..so I thought that we actually have a FTP Provicer..or is it just the Seedbox Provider?

[Maximus]

No, it is just a Seedbox provider, however, there could be an SFTP as a feature of your seedbox plan. The ``seeding`` of unlimited software is in relation only to the Bandwidth quota.

[Apaullo]

Ah ok..so there is no FTP Provider existing at all lols! Yeah I guess the seedbox plan has FTP feature on it