Hey! I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this question, but I'm doing a study about security. I wanted to describe how much of a difference an external hardware storage does compared to storing all files on your local hard drive.
My question is, does the external hardware make your files safer even if it's plugged in constantly?
Not even Wiki is giving me a clear answer on that one, and when I got into reading about crypto wallets and the talk about "Psychical wallets" I got left with the quote "The security of a physical wallet depends on how you store it."
Maybe it's such an obvious answer, so no one cares to write about it, and for that, I feel stupid. But as a follow-up questions to you in Norton, how protected are people from using your or any other virus protection programs? Should I feel worried about leaving sensitive information on my harddrive, and if so, what would you recommend us to do to feel as safe as possible?
If you are talking about ransomware, the best protection is a backup (better, multiple backups - local and offsite) stored on an unattached device. But the larger point is if your house burns down and takes your computer with it, how would you recover your data unless you have backups safely stored offsite?
Against the kind of attack you mention -- outside malware and other software invasions
Against physical breakdown especially if your PC only has one hard drive installed eg a laptop or most desktops unless added by owner
and of course there is
3. The scam type attack which may involve email or phone calls telling you something is wrong or infected and offering to fix it -- often associated with not always strictly valid statements of representing a manufacturer or installed product.
I'll leave 1 and 3 to others but so far as 2 is concerned remember: your hard drive WILL break down leaving you with no way to access its contents. And don't think it's OK because you have a SSD (Solid State Drive with no moving parts) because they can break down too. I do support on another place and we have a user with a SSD that has failed its SMART test and needs to be replaced immediately.
So having a plug in drive and even better also a second hard drive inside your computer if you can (My hybrid ASUS T200 actually has solid state memory in the display usable as a tablet and a place to put a physical hard drive in the keyboard base!)
AND USE THEM with software to save an image of the hard drive from time to time which can be restored to a replacement drive that has failed (or you need a bigger one) for which there is excellent free software. I and others I respect use Macrium Reflect for this; it's quick and reliable.