Cloud Dispersing Option: Cleversafe and Symform
There's a notion in the cloud hosting world that dispersing data is a safer and more secure way of storing information. There are currently two companies offering businesses the cloud dispersing option: Cleversafe and Symform. Both companies offer similar services with subtle differences.
But what's really of interest here is the concept that dispersing information results in heightened security. How true is this idea?
What Symform and Cleversafe Do
Have you ever heard the expression “don't put all of your eggs into one basket”? Well, that saying is somewhat metaphorical, but you can take it to a literal level too. If you keep all of your data in one big bunch, and then store that large bunch in one cloud or data center, it's much easier to lose that information if something happens to a cloud or storage center, right?
Symform and Cleversafe essentially chop up your data, encrypt it, and then send it to numerous storage centers. Cleversafe sends data to your own private cloud (rented storage systems is also an option), and Symform store your sliced up data on the storage devices of other Symform clients (an unusual approach, but one that Symform guarantees is the most secure). But, are either of these methods really the best way to handle large chunks of data?
Some Benefits of Data Dispersion
In order for a hacker to access dispersed data, that person would have to grab all the scattered pieces, crack the encryption code, and pain the final picture. Clearly, dispersing data means that its harder for hackers to put everything back together again (kind of like the hassle that Humpty Dumpty's men went through).
There's another benefit to data dispersion too. Companies with a large amount of data to store can greatly lower storage requirements, since the amount of storage needed tends to be lower in a dispersion situation. It's a win for companies seeking secure storage solutions, and it's an area of the cloud hosting world that's been getting a lot of attention lately.
Choosing the Right Company
Both Symform and Cleversafe claim that the level of data storage security is incredibly high. Some cloud users might be wary of Symform, though, since this company does rely on sharing storage devices (as mentioned above) with other Symform users. Symform holds all AES access keys, though, so you can rest assured that your information will be safe – maybe safer than the security that Cleversafe offers, even.
Symform sends bits of your data to more than 90 different devices. In order for a hacker to collect all of these parts, that hacker would have to gather the keys for all 90 storage device – that's a lot of work.
Cleversafe stores your data across a number of devices, but all of this data can be accessed with one encryption key that's included in your overall data package (technically, a hacker only has to retrieve the bits of the package that make up the key, and that will provide access to data). That hacker would then have to go through an identification process and use Cleversafe's software in order to gain access to data.
Both Cleversafe and Symform present some of the best cloud security options to date. Unless some glitches arrive or holes in security form (which is possible), these two companies offer a form of cloud security that has yet to be matched.
