5 Best Free and Secure Cloud Storage 2019
Every day we trust more and more information to cloud storage. They provide fast and convenient access from any place at any time and usually it is free. However, how safe is it? This question has been asked by Falcongaze analysts, a company that develops solutions in the field of cybersecurity. The result of the research is presented below in the rank of cloud storage listed according to their safety.
In fifth place is one of the first cloud services - Dropbox
Drew Houston's brainchild was launched in 2007. Today the company estimates more than 12 billion dollars. Nevertheless, the reliability of this storage has been questioned. First of all due to its inability to encrypt data, which leads to huge attacks.
For example, the database of 68 million users’ personal data was selling in 2016 on the dark market. However, the fact does not prevent the service from remaining popular. Mostly because the great amount of its adherents do not even know about more convenient and secure clouds.
The fourth position in the rank is occupied by iCloud
Of course, Apple products owners are fond of this cloud storage as it is convenient for them. It provides full synchronization within company's products and allows to find a lost iPhone. Nonetheless, it has problems with security too. Thus, in 2014, photos of naked celebrities were stolen from iCloud. It was an outrageous surprise for celebrities that iCloud backed up photos and stored even deleted images. Another loud incident happened two years later. Unknown cybercriminals managed to steal 40 million accounts through the “find iPhone” function. After that, they blocked gadgets and extorted money. Apple reacted by popularization of two-factor authentication.
In third place is Microsoft development - OneDrive
This storage offers not only the ability to upload files to the cloud, but also to work with documents online. At the same time, synchronization with Hotmail and the search engine Bing is available. Unfortunately, the company provides only 5 GB of free space. Another OneDrive disadvantage is the full Microsoft control of the downloaded data. Although the company's specialists say that exclusively special software algorithms check the information and the company has an extremely strict internal policy, there are still some doubts.
Google Drive takes the second place
The cloud service, which is used by 1.5 billion people worldwide, is next in our list. The services provides 15 GB of free space. Furthermore, it encrypts data with a 128-bit algorithm, and uses SSL protection while uploading or downloading. However, no advantages helped Google in July 2018 when Russian search engine Yandex managed to index the users’ files with status «access by reference only». The data appeared in the Yandex search results. Unfortunately, after such an incident, Google Drive failed to become the leader of our ranking.
MEGA is the leader of the rating
Finally, who is the leader? Falcongaze analysts put cloud storage MEGA on the top of the rank. It offers to users 50 GB of free storage. Moreover, it pays great attention to security. For example, the resource does not store users' passwords on its servers. Clients are recommended to remember the password or download it to physical carrier. In addition, MEGA encrypts information in the browser using the AES algorithm. In order to view the files, you must use a special security key. With such a protection, the files will be not available to criminals, even if they hack the company's servers.