How I keep my PC files backed up

I really enjoyed reading Issue 491’s Cover Feature ‘Make Your PC Unhackable in 2017’. Well, I say ‘enjoyed’ – actually it filled me with dread!

If any of my computer files go missing, nothing horrible is going to happen – no identities or bank details will be released. Having said that, I have collected hundreds of valuable resources over the years. I consider myself to be ‘tech savvy’, and thought that I had taken every eventuality into consideration. I have a 1TB external hard drive, which is encrypted with Bitlocker. I carry this back and forth to the school where I work as a teacher.

I use Second Copy ( www.secondcopy. com) to sync the external hard drive to a home-built NAS running FREENAS ( www. freenas.org). Besides this, my computer uploads a copy to Crashplan ( www. crashplan.com), an online (cloud-based) file-storage service. I use Google Photos to back up all my images (incidentally, a service that all your readers should investigate).

In your article, you mentioned a piece of software called Cryptsync ( www. snipca.com/22756). As I write, 472,477 files are being encrypted, compressed and stored on a separate internal hard drive. I generated the secure password for encryption using Lastpass. Your article was a poignant reminder that the online world has changed. A valuable read that everyone with a computer should see. Richard Senior

It was interesting to read your feature about hacking. Unfortunately, in my opinion it’s impossible to make any PC unhackable. For 14 months I’ve played cat and mouse with a hacker, desperately trying to remain one step ahead of him. It’s not always possible because he can totally disable my Kaspersky antivirus. Therefore I’ve had to stop internet banking at home. In fact I bought a laptop to be used only in my local bank.

I have gone over to using virtual private networks ( VPNS), but twice the hacker disabled the VPN software and prevented my ipad and Macbook Pro from being able to access the internet. This resulted in me having to reset both devices.

The hacker has even put another operating system on my phone and put it on his server, resulting in me having to factory-reset it. Should workable suggestions be available to improve my situation I would welcome them. Martin Pepper