Q. You run advertisements for an online backup service. Aren't these services dangerous? We always hear about companies losing data or having it compromised. So, how can storing data online be safe? How can we trust a service to protect our files? And what about privacy? Can the government access these files without a warrant or subpoena?
—Paul in Sacramento, listening via Kim's Club 

I use Carbonite at home and in my office. So, let's take a look at it. Full disclosure: Carbonite is the advertiser to which you refer.

With Carbonite, your data is encrypted before it leaves your machine. Carbonite uses 448-bit Blowfish encryption. That is very, very strong. Blowfish has not been cracked.

Once encrypted, your data is sent to Carbonite's servers securely. Carbonite uses SSL to protect your data. SSL, in turn, uses 128-bit encryption. That also has never been broken.

This means your data is encrypted twice. Say a thief were to crack the secure transmission, as unlikely as this is. He would still have to crack Blowfish. Your data isn't worth the criminal's time. There are much easier fish to catch.