BT has opened up its online storage service to anyone with a broadband connection.

BT Digital Vault Basic , which allows people to store digital data such as photos, movies or music, was launched earlier this month to BT Total Broadband customers.

The company said the free service is now open to anyone, irrespective of their broadband service provider.

As we keep more and more of our personal data on PCs, the idea behind the service is to help people protect their data against PC crashes or accidental deletion.

It will also add protection against the growing threat of hackers, who have been infecting people's PCs with malware such as Trojan Horses, encrypting the data and holding it to ransom.

One such attack earlier this year demanded $10.99 with menaces; these being the deletion of a file every 30 minutes until the ransom was sent to the hacker via Western Union.

Another Trojan Horse, Archiveus, merged all the files in a computer's My Documents folder into one big password-protected file. The original files were then deleted. Rather than demand money to unscramble the files, the victim was told to go to an online pharmacy and make an order.

Gavin Patterson, managing director of consumer, BT Retail, said: "Millions of us now routinely store our memories, thoughts and valuable content on our PCs. For example, more than half of PC owners now store photos on their PCs.

"To lose this information in the event of a crash or theft would be devastating. BT Digital Vault offers a, simple and safe solution."

The basic service is free and ideal for users who only need a small amount of storage space and who don’t mind manually uploading their files. BT is also offering automatic backup and more storage space for £4.99 per month.

This Backup Manager automatically backs up file each time they are changed or if more files are added.

People who register for the service are given what the company calls a 'virtual deposit box'. Although the data is automatically encrypted when it is sent over the internet, customers will be able to access everything they upload using their chosen login name and password at any time from any computer connected to the internet.

People can also let others view selected files; for example, they can create a photo album slideshow in their personal vault, and then send an email to family and friends giving them a web address where they can view the selected content. Other content cannot be accessed however and remains private.

As an introductory offer, all customers signing up for the free package before 8 January 2007 will get 2GB of storage capacity. After that date, those that do not have a BT Total Broadband account will get 1GB of storage.

People choosing the Digital Vault Backup Manager will get 20GB of storage and if they sign up before 8 January 2007, the first two months are free.