What should you look out for when choosing a secure cloud storage provider?

We go over a few things to keep in mind while shopping.

Its used by all kinds of services and apps to scramble information, from cloud storage toVPNs.

A safe in the clouds with a padlock in front.

Lucas Gouveia / How-To Geek

Data at Rest and in Transfer

Whendata is encrypted is much more important.

Many cloud storage providers, maybe even a majority, use a two-step process.

When you download data, this process is reversed.

This means that they can see what youre storing and even dive into the files.

If a cybercriminal were to have access to their servers, theyd have access to your files.

There is a way to fix this, though.

As the name suggests, this process encrypts your data from one end of the download/upload pipeline to another.

When using end-to-end encryption, at no point can any unauthorized person access your files.

When it comes to both security and privacy, end-to-end encryption is much better than the encrypt-then-decrypt-again method.

Zero knowledge in this case means that the service youre using doesnt know what your password is.

This means that at no point can anyone from that service access your encrypted files.

More importantly, even if there is a breach, your passwordcantbe leaked because nobody knows it.

Its a great system, but does have a downside: you cant reset your password.

When choosing thebest cloud storage, it pays to ensure that the provider you choose offers both.

After all, theyre your files.

Nobody else should be looking at them.