Super data-saving security tip for paranoid people and activists...

[Cosmicbrat]

Get you a couple Toshiba 1-tera external hard drives.. Load them up with all your private files, music, videos, notes, pix.. everything..
Hide one, sealed in doubled plastic, where even an evil god couldn't find it..

Do all your computer work on the external hd.. Never leave any new files on the computer's hd.. When you shut the computer off it's always a clean empty computer, but for easily replaceable background pix, music, and videos, that can be easily replaced from the external hd..
Never mount the external hd when the computer is Net-connected.. Always unmount the external hd before Net-connecting.. This method, no one, not even the meanest ugliest nastiest bottom-feeder cokehead-burned black-souled blackhatters can ever touch your private data, unless they actually physically steal your two external hd's.. This method, you can carry all your computer data with you in a pocket, and it works in most computer USB slots, though I would never ever attach my external hd to a windows computer, not even if hell freezed over...

To me, running a windows computer is like gazing into a swirling plugged toilet..
Installing a windows OS is like reaching into that plugged toilet to grab and squeeze its hard contents..
Repairing a windows OS is like visiting hell itself and kissing devil's bums...
I have issues with windows.. My windows computers got hit three-times by the evolving 'Storm e-virus'.. Lucky I had my backups done then..
This one time, a bad hacker got onto my desktop.. I pulled up a new file, and keyed in "GET PAMPERS!".. Suddenly he hit the OS with Storm.. It was quite exciting to watch Storm do its thang...
A Storm hit windows OS is 100% none-recoverable.. When Storm hits the Internet, all net-connected windows computers will suddenly be permanently dead destroyed faster than you can say 'oops'.. is a good reason for the whole world to switch to Linux today, especially all windows business computers.. Storm could easily destroy the whole global economy in less than an hour.. That's a very bad bug..

It's creator gets away with it, because he owns politician's souls.. I suspect when that overly-wealthy brain-fried goof dies, his secret computer will release Storm to the Internet.. Cokeheads have chemically burned their brains.. They've literally burned out their emotions.. They can't love.. They are essentially dead inside...

I tried a couple 'WD my passport' external hd's.. One WD died in just three months, though WD replaced it very fast, but it was a lot of red tape and hoops.. I'm done with WD forever!.. thht on them...
I trust Toshiba external hd's.. This one has taken several drops over the years, and is still working perfectly..
I heard that most external hd's are killed from a slight corner-hit when dropped, or bumped when running.. Not this Toshiba.. It keeps on running and running like an ole farm tractor.. 1-tera Toshibas are about $60 to $90 new these days.. Worth it to never lose your stuff.. You can't trust CD's and flashes to be reliable backups..

CD's wear-out shelf-life is about 10-20 years.. Even the best flashes can take a little drop, and suddenly never work again.. Been there.. Not fun! Lost a lot of good stuff then.. Is why I always have two quality external hd backups..

http://www.ebay.ca/sch/Toshiba-Exter..._709920/i.html

It's time to make your backups.. Don't lose your precious data to laziness silliness procrastination..
I heard of a music DJ who dropped his WD external hd, and lost all his decades of saved music and edits in that second.. His whole business gone instantly thht from a little bump..

[whatthefunk]

Would it be possible to put mallware on a computer while it is net connected, harvest data other times when the computer is not net-connected, and then send that data back home when the computer is reconnected to the internet? My instinct tells me that this would be possible.

About your backup solution...What if the backup HD goes too? When you want to make a backup, you have to go dig it out of its hiding place, unseal the thing, plug it in, and run your backup solution? That sucks.

[NickStone]

If your that paranoid you can simply remove the (internal) hard disk and boot up the PC using a live DVD and store all your documents on an external hard disk or thumb drives and store them away somewhere safe when not in use. Any malware that infects the OS in live environment will be destroyed when you switch off.

[GreyGeek]

Using CD's was my primary method of backing up beginning with the Sony VAIO I purchased in Dec of 1997. I used CD's until 4 GB and larger USB sticks became affordable around 2007 or so. I saved several hundred backup CD's between 1997 and 2007. Around 2010 I read an article about the various kinds of material used to make CDs and the material most used in CDs had lamination and oxidation problems. Instead of 20 years they were failing in 2 or 3 or 5 years. I began checking my CDs for readability and found that at least 1/4th of them were not readable any more, even after I tried various kinds of disc polishers and other methods for revitalizing them. The DVD's I used were all readable. I still have about 100 unused RO 780Mb CDs and about 20 unused RW 4.7Gb DVDs. I only use them to give files away. Even 4.7Gb is too small these days.