US Patent 8244678 Method and apparatus for managing backup data

A method of easily-accessible, versioned, secure, redundant backup of digital information involves establishing a back-end data store connected to a world-wide telecommunications network. Users communicate with the data store using a variety of user a computing devices, each of which has installed thereon client software capable various operations, including communicating with the data store, monitoring a second data store, detecting and replicating changes in the second data store, and selecting data to be transmitted over the telecommunications network to and from the back-end data store. Users may establish policies for data backup and transmission, may monitor the status of data backup, may browsing the back-end data store, may review prior versions of data stored on the back-end data store. The data store is configured for remote management by a user, including deletion of data in the second data store if the computing device is lost or stolen.