Online Backup Solution Reviews

SOS describes their security as follows “The SOS system ensures complete privacy protection. SOS uses a three-tiered encryption system which encrypts data on the user’s computer again in transit and finally when at rest in storage.” They use AES to encrypt the data before it leaves your machine and SSL to transport it. They also claim to encrypt it again using AES while it’s being stored, but I’m a little confused why that would be needed if it was encrypted before it left the user’s computer. They also have something called SOS UltraSafe™, which basically gives the user the option to manage their own keys. This is how they describe it: “…the user’s account password is not stored in our systems. This means that not even the SOS’s Engineers can view the data stored on the SOS servers. Only the user who put it there can ever access the data.”

From the outset I had complaints about setting up and creating the initial backup. Once I created the trial account there were no instructions on next steps. When using the classic view I had to refresh and then restart the console to get all of the information to show up-to-date. The look and feel is dated and clunky. The amount of configuration information that is put before the user is way too much. Compared to solutions like Carbonite, Mozy and Memopal—-SOS just doesn’t cut it.

SOS is really quite pricey for a marginal solution. They do have lots of features and on paper seem quite impressive, but in reality SOS is dated and expensive compared to many other online backup providers. For $49.95 a year they give you 15GB of storage which is paltry in comparison to 150GB of storage which both IDrive and Memopal offer for about the same price. For SOS to become competitive they really need to dramatically increase their storage capacities.

The BBB gives SOS Online Backup a C. They had one complaint listed and according to the BBB made a “…full refund, as the consumer requested”. I generally like the BBB and the information that they make available. The BBB for CA (specifically the LA area) seems very harsh on their grading. SOS provides some good info about their business on their website and it is apparent that they are an international company. I think we will give SOS an A- based on the BBB information (1 resolved complaint) and the extent of their operations throughout the world.