Photobucket's new rules.

Amazing the extremes people go to to store their data. All we do as a buissness these days is to use the superb Microsoft Azure system cloud storage as the main storage centre and then continually and automatically back all that up on Google Drive cloud storage........simple

I do the same with my personal data at home as all is then stored in eight data centres around the world. i just keep hard copies of insurance documents etc in the filing cabinet at home............simple.
Bill

If you're happy with your set up then fine, it wouldn't do for me; I simply wouldn't trust it!

You seem to believe in the integrity and security of the internet to point of blind faith in it and so much so that you preach about it with the evangelical fervour of a religious fanatic. May your internet and god be with you!

How do you retrieve your data if you lose the internet for any reason?

Rob.
 
If someone wants your data bad enough, believe you me, it will be hacked, code is code, there will never
be a bullet proof system as long as that code can be read & hackers will continue probing code until a doorway is found.


Another point for you to ponder, If they can read data from a hard drive that you think you have deleted, how do you delete it from the cloud?
You can destroy a hard drive to prevent data theft, but you can't do that with the cloud


BLACKWATCH, the essential rule you learn in our occupation (industrial safety) would be that everything we do in life carries some risk. The important thing is how you evaluate that risk and were necessary reduce the danger. In the case of data storage the risk as you correctly state is in the hazard of your data being hacked, stolen, destroyed or you or your organisation being held to ransom for it's return.

The "wanna cry" attacks have demonstrated resoundingly that holding data on local servers or drives makes that data vunerable to such attack and that vunerability is increasing as no persons have been apprehended for that criminal action. Being the fact that those responsible for the attacks have so far escaped with at least several millions (probably many millions) the general belief throughout the IT industry is not if there will be another "wanna cry" but when.

In 2013 my company went over to a full cloud operating system (Google Chrome OS) and moved our data to Google Drive cloud storage. At that time Google stored that data at two data storage base sites in the world which has since been increased to four. In the meantime we have also found that the Microsoft Azure cloud storage system is far better in terms of ease of use therefore we now use that system as main storage, Google drive as backup with little or nothing held within the company itself at any time.

In the above anyone wishing to corrupt or steal our data and also at the same time the data of millions of organisations throughout the world would have to carry out a simultaneous attack on eight very large storage center's worldwide all secured by the latest and very highest technology especially when referring to the Google centre's

The above is not to state that a successful attack can never happen. However, such an attack would have to be highly and extremely well organized (probably at nation state level) and would undoubtedly result in everyone being affected by not being able to access bank accounts etc at minimum and the collapse of distribution systems at worst. Therefore even if a person takes the trouble to each day backup their personal data to drives which they connect and disconnect each time they use their PC, then if there is a successful attack on these cloud storage centre's those persons will still be involved in that with the rest of us.

The above may be by way of the electricity going off. So, while purchasing detachable storage you may wish to also consider the purchase of a portable generator to keep it all going (LOL) Cloud operating systems and cloud storage is the way it is going for all of us, like it or not.

Bill
 
Last edited:
If you're happy with your set up then fine, it wouldn't do for me; I simply wouldn't trust it!

You seem to believe in the integrity and security of the internet to point of blind faith in it and so much so that you preach about it with the evangelical fervour of a religious fanatic. May your internet and god be with you!

How do you retrieve your data if you lose the internet for any reason?

Rob.

You retrieve data if the internet goes down by switching your smartphone on to LTE connectivity and turning on the "hotspot" feature which makes it a wifi router by way of your mobile carrier, simple as that.

However, with every respect Robd you once more demonstrate on this forum your lack of "Capacity" to follow a great number of these threads and then degenerate your postings into insults and garbage, such as "Donald Trump may shutdown the internet" LOL

Bill
 
Last edited:
However, with every respect Robd you once more demonstrate on this forum your lack of "Capacity" to follow a great number of these threads and then degenerate your postings into insults and garbage, such as "Donald Trump may shutdown the internet" LOL

Bill

Oooh, I say, well that's a bit of a defensive reply indeed!

Rob.
 
Hi Guyz .

Any more photo free hosting links out there!?

Thanks for those who replied earlier!

Kind Regards
Ish
 
The above is not to state that a successful attack can never happen. However, such an attack would have to be highly and extremely well organized (probably at nation state level)

May I refer you to the recent cases of attacks by "Nation States" e.g. Russia, Korea & China, which have been widely published in the news media.

and would undoubtedly result in everyone being affected by not being able to access bank accounts etc at minimum and the collapse of distribution systems at worst.

Again the recent attacks on a certain banks ATM's & the NHS system (albeit not "everybody" was affected, but next time it could be worse)

Therefore even if a person takes the trouble to each day backup their personal data to drives which they connect and disconnect each time they use their PC, then if there is a successful attack on these cloud storage centre's those persons will still be involved in that with the rest of us.

The above may be by way of the electricity going off. So, while purchasing detachable storage you may wish to also consider the purchase of a portable generator to keep it all going (LOL) Cloud operating systems and cloud storage is the way it is going for all of us, like it or not.

Bill

Have you not heard about backup power supplies for computers?
They have been around for a number of years, in fact, I bet your security system has a backup battery in it. ;)

Besides which, as a business, you should be paying for your backup servises with the amount & value of your data, not using a free service meant for the personal home user.
 
Ok folks lets try and stay on topic and away from attacking others & discussing unrelated internet privacy debates.

~ Moderator Peter
 
In 2013 my company went over to a full cloud operating system (Google Chrome OS) and moved our data to Google Drive cloud storage.
I hope you appreciate the irony. This thread is about a hosting site that, without warning, decided to hold users' images to ransom, and started demanding money to enable them to retrieve their data.

What happens to your business the day that Google decides they aren't making enough money from their cloud service, and closes off your access to your data until you pay them the increased prices they have decided on?
 
I hope you appreciate the irony. This thread is about a hosting site that, without warning, decided to hold users' images to ransom, and started demanding money to enable them to retrieve their data.

What happens to your business the day that Google decides they aren't making enough money from their cloud service, and closes off your access to your data until you pay them the increased prices they have decided on?

You have always been able to retrieve and download your images, that you "gave" to Photobucket, so that they could "Free Host" them on their servers, (which was mighty nice of them to offer "FREE" Hosting to billions of people, for years) never did they hold them for ransom ... They just said that they would stop you from linking them on the web, for "FREE", and they would now charge you $399 to link them. Google (and any other company) can decide that they will no longer provide "FREE" services, and "FREE" storage, at any given time. Just as Texas Road House Steakhouse provides "FREE" peanuts to all customers, they may at anytime remove all "FREE" peanuts without notice. If you got a "FREE" ride on a train for years on end, don't come complaining that you now have to be a paying customer, to ride ... or learn how to walk to work ... The day of "FREE LOADING" is over :mop::':)mop: Wahhhhh !

The day you "GAVE" you photos, and data, to a company that was "FREE", can at anytime be determined payware hosting and storage ... they are not liable to prove "FREE" service for life, or even for the lifetime of their company.

You will see the Trainz "LIFETIME" FCT will expire when the companies "LIFETIME" expires in the year 2037

N3V could at anytime, without notice, suddenly require "ALL" users to buy a FCT in order to use the DLS
 
Last edited:
BLACKWATCH, the essential rule you learn in our occupation (industrial safety) would be that everything we do in life carries some risk. The important thing is how you evaluate that risk and were necessary reduce the danger. In the case of data storage the risk as you correctly state is in the hazard of your data being hacked, stolen, destroyed or you or your organisation being held to ransom for it's return.

The "wanna cry" attacks have demonstrated resoundingly that holding data on local servers or drives makes that data vunerable to such attack and that vunerability is increasing as no persons have been apprehended for that criminal action. Being the fact that those responsible for the attacks have so far escaped with at least several millions (probably many millions) the general belief throughout the IT industry is not if there will be another "wanna cry" but when.

In 2013 my company went over to a full cloud operating system (Google Chrome OS) and moved our data to Google Drive cloud storage. At that time Google stored that data at two data storage base sites in the world which has since been increased to four. In the meantime we have also found that the Microsoft Azure cloud storage system is far better in terms of ease of use therefore we now use that system as main storage, Google drive as backup with little or nothing held within the company itself at any time.

In the above anyone wishing to corrupt or steal our data and also at the same time the data of millions of organisations throughout the world would have to carry out a simultaneous attack on eight very large storage center's worldwide all secured by the latest and very highest technology especially when referring to the Google centre's

The above is not to state that a successful attack can never happen. However, such an attack would have to be highly and extremely well organized (probably at nation state level) and would undoubtedly result in everyone being affected by not being able to access bank accounts etc at minimum and the collapse of distribution systems at worst. Therefore even if a person takes the trouble to each day backup their personal data to drives which they connect and disconnect each time they use their PC, then if there is a successful attack on these cloud storage centre's those persons will still be involved in that with the rest of us.

The above may be by way of the electricity going off. So, while purchasing detachable storage you may wish to also consider the purchase of a portable generator to keep it all going (LOL) Cloud operating systems and cloud storage is the way it is going for all of us, like it or not.

Bill

This is the third time I have started this comment over the last week or so: I can no longer resist. A friend boasted about the security of the Google OS, so we took a look. What did we discover? A completely open system, no defences, no privacy, no control whatsoever. Weird that she thinks this a good thing...
 
as I would be 116 in 2038 and probably long dead I'm not going to worry about it ;o)


A bit off topic to:
Oh, you never know Malc -- got good genes, a healthy life style, you might be around to see what trainz would look like then, sir! LOL:)

Take Care
Ish
 
Actually it shows a false expiry date of 2037 because of the Unix 2038 bug, similar issue to the Millennium bug, computers are not capable yet of dealing with it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem, as I would be 116 in 2038 and probably long dead I'm not going to worry about it ;o)
N3V won't even be in existence in 2038, none of us will be playing Twainz, nor posting screenshots, and we all could be dead by then
 
N3V won't even be in existence in 2038, none of us will be playing Twainz, nor posting screenshots, and we all could be dead by then

I wouldn't put money on that, Codemasters were making games back in the 80's for Amiga, they are still around today, so N3v has every chance of being
around in another 21 years with games, although Trainz may have morphed into something we cannot yet perceive. :)
 
Random thoughts:
Just read a thread elsewhere where one forum has allegedly lost 20,000 images hosted on Photobucket!

Statement from Photobucket apparently said they did it because they were not making any money out of image hosting. I interpret that, if true, as either they are getting greedy or they have money issues.

I seem to remember sometime in the past one forum I used, I forget which, specified you could only use Photobucket for hotlinking images!

I wonder how much bandwidth all these Pay the Ransom Photobucket images are consuming? I assume they are not going to leave them cluttering up the web forever? I would imagine that leaving them up would be extremely bad publicity and put off potential paying customers.
 
I wonder how much bandwidth all these Pay the Ransom Photobucket images are consuming? I assume they are not going to leave them cluttering up the web forever? I would imagine that leaving them up would be extremely bad publicity and put off potential paying customers.


A lot less; multiple reasons.

it's only one image, once your browser downloads it; all further references to it, to a degree, just use the one already downloaded. It's a small optimized image, whereas most of the images being hot-linked were much larger and not optimized for web. It's like downloading a A8 piece of paper versus an A1.

peter
 
Back
Top