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T-Mobile UK experienced earlier this week a massive breach into its data base: a yet undisclosed number of customers records have been stolen and, most likely, sold to an unidentified third party.

“The number of records involved runs into the millions and it appears that substantial amounts of money changed hands”, said in a document Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) acknowledging the breach. The data included customers’ personal information and contract expiration dates. The UK’s Data Protection Act prohibits the selling of data without prior permission from the owner. The ICO said in its report that it believes T-Mobile competitors used the information to call customers prior to the expiration of their contracts and offer them deals with a new operator.

Well. guess what: the thief was a T-Mobile UK insider, not some random hacker looking for easy money. This fact highlights the problem of the threat posed by insiders, especially during an uncertain global economy, which has resulted in layoffs and mergers.

When Swiss DNA Bank’s storage system was designed, one of the questions was: who can access the data our uses will upload? The answer we came up with was no one except its legitimate owner. Our service provides a digital safety box only the user can access. There is no way an insider could ever enter a Forever account and share its content with a third party. It is just impossible.

That is because there are three separate keys to decrypt the information and each one is in a different Swiss DNA Bank’s trustee hands. Because your privacy is always our priority.

There are some things in life we just take for granted and feel are absolutely necessary. Life insurance is one of them. No one would take the chance of leaving their family in financial difficulties should something happen to them.

But where does the concept of life insurance originate?

Apparently, the first form of life insurance was developed in ancient Rome and in ancient India. People would form what they called “burial clubs”, which, in the event of any unexpected death of one of their members, would pay for the funeral expenses and help the family with some money. After the fall of the Roman empire in 450 A.D., life insurance was long forgotten, most likely because it was incompatible with the religious fanaticism of the time and because of the lack of a solid social structure. Nevertheless, some forms of insurance were in existence during the Middle Ages to cover risks like fire, flood, theft or imprisonment.

Modern life insurance was developed in Britain in the 17th century, as it was the only European country where this activity was legal. Lloyd’s of London, or as they were known at the time, Lloyd’s Coffee House, was the place where merchants and ship owners met to discuss business. And it was where the concept was developed.

The subsequent US life insurance business was built on the British model. The Presbyterian Synod of Philadelphia sponsored the first life insurance corporation in America in 1759, benefiting its ministers and their dependents.

The many American religious groups strongly opposed life insurance until about 1840. After that date the market flourished. Disasters such as the 1835 New York fire or the 1871 disaster in Chicago raised awareness for the need for a strong insurance system.

But what about an insurance on afterlife? What about insuring not only your financial possessions, but also you entire life’s experience? Today you pay a regular monthly policy and you know that one day your heirs will benefit from a certain amount of money. But another very important thing we risk is losing is all the knowledge that we have gained over time, all the pictures of the places we have been to, all the experiences we have lived.

These are very important and valuable assets that you will want future generations to benefit from.

Swiss DNA Bank service is the ultimate life insurance. You can literally store your entire life in Swiss DNA Bank’s secure server, knowing that the subscription fee you initially paid is invested in order to generate annual revenue which will cover  the expenses…Forever.

The Ancient Library of Alexandria was the largest and best-known human knowledge magnet of all times. It was built under the Ptolemaic dynasty around III century BC and destroyed under mysterious circumstances under the Roman ruling. Some say that maybe it was Julius Caesar itself who burned the library down.

The loss was of catastrophic proportions: something between 40.000 and 100.000 books have been destroyed, turning into ashes thousands of years of history, literature and world facts.

In the early Seventies the idea of reviving the old library started taking place and a specific committee was set up to discuss the project. The new Library of Alexandria was to rise exactly on the same spot where its predecessor was burned down centuries before: between the University’s campus and the seafront.

UNESCO, together with the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak gave the project full support. The Mediterranean was to be endowed with a new and great cultural center.

The library was inaugurated in 2002 and hosts approximately eight million books and features a 70.000 square meter reading room.

The rise, fall and rise again after so many centuries of the Library of Alexandria is probably the greatest, even though it is just one out of many, of the examples of the strong link that runs between humans and their culture, their heritage.

As soon as writing was invented life and its events have been registered. The supports have changed dramatically over time: rocks, wax boards, animal skins, paper…

Techniques have changed, but the aim was always that of preserving our memories.

Today computers are the evolution of the ancient papyrus that once filled Alexandria’s library. Producing and recording data has become technically faster and easier, flooding hard drives world round with information.

It is often difficult to understand the importance of a secure back-up of all these files, pictures and documents, of our life’s record.

Swiss DNA Bank is the ultimate tool for data recovery: a 21st century Library of Alexandria safely embedded in the Swiss Alps in a nuclear-proof shelter.

No modern Julius Caesar will break into this data storage facility!

If we talk about “sandboxing”, happy memories of childhood games in the garden will come to mind.

But when talking about computers and applications, this term refers to a very powerful security feature that separates running programs. This is very important for service/application providers. Anyone that offers a web-based service is potentially under risk of being attacked by hackers or third parties interested in gaining the information that’s been transferred from the user to the server during uploading and vice versa during downloading.

When Swiss DNA Bank’s developing team was crating the application, the number one priority was always to give users the maximum level of security possible due to the company’s concern with the customers’ privacy issues.

The only way to provide 100% guarantees that the data would not be intercepted by malicious third parties was to rely on two separate servers: one on which the application is running and another one on which the data is stored. The two servers are completely independent and physically located in two different venues. The only connection occurs during data uploading and downloading, a phase in which everything is protected by the highest encryption standards.

In addition, the keys to decryption and the encrypted data are saved in physically separated machines, so that even if a system engineer gains access to one of the servers it is impossible for him to enter the Forever database.

Another plus of this security solution is that in case of an application crash occurs due to a very high number of access, there is no risk of data loss or damaging because everything is saved on the separate and highly secure Forever server.

The risk with the average available cloud computing (services which, like Swiss DNA Bank, provide a software that users access form a browser instead of downloading it on their computer), is that you do not know for sure wether the application and the data are on the same server and where the server is physically located. Since data can sometimes be backed-up on one’s computer but is usually hosted on the cloud, in case of a system crash there are no security guarantees concerning a safe back-up procedure.

Unlike most services, thanks to the multiple server solution and localized Forever data storage, Swiss DNA Bank is able to provide a 100% secure service for a risk-free storage.

September 1st 2009 is a very important day in Swiss DNA Bank’s history. It’s the day the staff finally pulled the strings on a very intensive two-years project development. Everything came together and the “put-the-web-application-on-line-button” was pushed.

The dream of creating the first data and DNA forever banking service came to life.

The idea was always to create a bank, a Swiss bank, which followed each and every security and privacy policy of our country. But what was going to be sheltered in this bank was not money or bonds. Was something much more precious and unique: it was people’s memories and DNA.

As Swiss DNA Bank’s website often states, one’s life experience, knowledge and memories are the most important asset we have. It takes a lifetime to build them.

On the other hand, our DNA trace is something that belongs only to ourselves. The health information contained are crucial not only for the carrier, but also for it’s family. Knowing your biological ancestry can help you prevent or cure many disease. But at the end of one’s life these assets are most likely going to be lost. Our children, our grandchildren and the ones that will come after them are deprived of the chance of getting to know who we where, what we’ve done and what we’ve learned.

This is where the idea of the Perpetual Financial Engine comes from.

The Perpetual Financial Engine feature is the reason why Swiss DNA Bank’s service is Forever. As of today, there is no technological support that you are sure it will be readable in even just 10 or 15 years time. Think about a floppy disc or an audio cassette.

So we figured that the solution to perpetual data storage is not technological, but financial.

The Perpetual Financial Engine, together with a long-lasting and safe structure of a Swiss bank, is the key to being able of founding tomorrow’s technological support renewal.

The user’s subscription fee is partially invested in safe assets, such as Swiss government bonds, in order to guarantee a small revenue, year after year, which allows to keep our storing facilities up to date.

When this whole picture came together, it was time to think of a safe way to store it all. The solution fort the physical storage of the servers which contain the data came from the heart of the Swiss Alps, from a former military nuclear shelter which was converted into server hosting facility.

Once Swiss DNA Bank’s servers were safe behind closed steel doors, the attention turned to on-line security.

The web-development team figured that username and password were not enough to protect such sensible data. So each Swiss DNA Bank user is provided with a Swiss DNA Card, a credit card sized one-time access code generator. The one-time access code is the third field one has to fill to enter the Swiss DNA Bank web application, an amazing tool to organize memories, pictures, documents, and any other file you can think of.

Take a look at your desk. Open some drawers randomly. Check your computer’s desktop. And what about the office’s shelves? Unless you are one of those people naturally gifted with full organizational skills, at least one of those places is a real mess.

And if you are organized, this will be your ultimate tool!

Now you can store it all, safely and Forever.

http://www.swissdnabank.com/

Visiting Swiss Fort Knox, Swiss DNA Bank’s storage partner

First comes a nice walk in Gstaad, one of the best-known and more exclusive skiing resorts in Switzerland.

Than comes a short and charming car ride.

Than comes a tiny iron door on the wall of the mountain next to Gstaad’s airport.

And then it’s like being in a James Bond movie. It’s a petty comparison, ok, but it gives the idea.

When Swiss DNA Bank’s officials where looking for a strong data storage partner the key world was: high standard Swiss security.

What can be more Swiss and more secure than a nuclear shelter embedded in the Swiss Alps?

Yes, Swiss Fort Knox data storage center happens to be located inside a former military nuclear shelter. Mr. Christoff Oschwald, one of the two parters which own the company, blended his IT and military background and created this unique server hosting facility.

Prior to the visit, which is privilege for customers and selected press, one must fill a request form. Than getting in is an experience in between boarding an airplane and waiting in line for an adventure Disneyland ride. Only this is for real.

A security guard, which accompanies the visitors throughout the tour, is in charge for ID checking, metal-detector inspection and weighting you. A strange but important procedure: it is the safest and fastest way to check wether you are heavier on your way out - that is, are taking something away from the facility.

Than the James Bond-like part starts: long corridors dug in the bare mountain’s rock lead the way to some times small, some times huge chambers. The servers are located at the heart of the facility and the number of half-a-meter- thick iron doors is impressive.

Swiss DNA Bank’s servers are located in the main server storage area. The environment is constantly cooled down by the water that flows from the glacier on top of the mountain, keeping the the inside temperature ideal for the machine’s well-functioning.

Swiss Fort Knox is a veteran in secure data storage providing, so together with such an infrastructure was Swiss DNA Bank’s obvious partnership choice.

If you are lucky enough to enter the facility, you’ll most likely receive the ultimate treat after the tour: a drink at the sky bar: Gstaad’s airport former control tower, which sticks out of the mountain’s side. Even the finale was really James Bond. I wanted to ask for a Martini, “shaken, not stirred”.

For further information on Swiss Fort Knox’s facility: www.swissfortknox.ch

If you are a registered Swiss DNA Bank user, this space is here to guide you through the use of Swiss DNA Bank, update you on the application’s new features, answer any question you might come up with and collect your thoughts and comments.

If you are not a SDNAB user yet, here you can learn all about our service and find interesting topics or answers to more specific questions the web site didn’t quite explain.

New, interesting and curious facts on genetics and other SDNAB related issues will be constantly updated.

Take a little time to discover interesting genetics related news and please fill free to ask any question or post any comment!

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