Clever security system virtually rips files in half so they can?t be hacked (Yahoo! News)

Chinese Academy of Sciences researchers to present the system at a science and technology conference

Worried about the security and privacy of your files? Nan Zhang, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes he has the solution to your problem. His system called the Cloud Shredder virtually rips documents in two so that half resides in your computer, while the other half is stored in the cloud.

Currently, protecting files on your computer means encrypting them. But as it's easy to decrypt data with the right tools, you always have to be ready for the possibility of your device (especially mobile ones) being lost or stolen. And while you can always choose to use cloud storage services, it's natural to still be concerned about security, considering the number of high-profile hacks that happened as of late.

With Cloud Shredder, you don't have to choose where to keep your files. Having half a particular file on your computer and half of it stored in the cloud means you can't open it without having access to both. If your smartphone or tablet falls into the wrong hands, for example, the documents stored in that device are nothing but broken data. And if you want to be extra sure your files can't be pieced together, you can go on your cloud storage service to delete everything.

While having to go online every time you want to access your files seems impractical, Zhang believes the system will be more viable in the future as mobile internet becomes more and more pervasive. Cloud Shredder isn't commercially available yet, but it's definitely gone way beyond the concept phase ??the system already exists, and Zhang has configured it to work with Adobe Acrobat Reader and Open Office. He also says he can easily make it work with other document software in the future, but for now he will present the Cloud Shredder as it is at China's Frontier of Computer Science and Technology conference by the end of November.

(Source)

This article was written by Mariella Moon and originally appeared on Tecca

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