Block level backup is the technology which lets a cloud platform backup only “new” changes instead of re-uploading the entire content. If you have a 1GB folder/file and you add 50Mb extra data to it, only the extra 50Mb data is uploaded to your cloud backup and not the entire 1GB file. Jan 21, 2020 Duplicity - Free open source software that supports 20+ cloud providers. A very mature project, but command line only. EncFSMP - Free open source software that enables OS X and Windows computers to use EncFS encrypted volumes. Rclone - Free open source command line program to sync files and directories to and from over 40 cloud storage providers. Ultra fast MySQL backup. CloudBacko's hot backup feature lets you back up your MySQL Database even if the MySQL server services are running. Backup of a huge 100GB MySQL Database can be easily completed overnight thanks to CloudBacko's leading speed boosting technologies, e.g. Multi-thread, concurrent backup to multiple destinations, In-File Delta block-level incremental hot backup,.
Over the past several years, online privacy has been one of the most dominant topics in technology. Questions about an individual’s right to own their online footprint, NSA surveillance, celebrity phone hacks and the most recent Facebook data controversy are a just a few examples.
For those looking to limit the potential for abuse while not giving up the benefits of the internet, there are several ways to limit the amount of personal data exposed, such as those found in our online privacy guide. In this article, we’re going to be focusing on the topic of cloud storage privacy, and how to protect the files you keep there so that only you can decrypt them.
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The approach is sometimes called zero-knowledge encryption, and is a favorite topic here at Cloudwards.net. Zero-knowledge cloud storage services dominate our rankings for best cloud storage, in fact, mostly on account of their strong approach to security.
While popular services like Dropbox and Google Drive don’t offer the same advantage, third-party software can change that. In a bit, we’ll show you how to use one of the best, Boxcryptor, to keep your files private.
Before we get to how to encrypt your data for cloud storage, though, let’s review the reasons you might want to in a bit more detail.
The Problem with Managed Encryption
Nearly all cloud storage services encrypt the data customers store on their servers, with only a few notable exceptions like Amazon Drive (read our Amazon Drive review). However, the fact that most of those services also manage the keys used for encryption means that your files are more vulnerable than they need to be.
While many cloud storage services won’t exploit that vulnerability for financial gain, corporations don’t always take the ethical path when there’s money to be made. Google, for its part, states in its terms of service that it may scan sent, received and stored data to for marketing analysis:
“Our automated systems analyze your content (including emails) to provide you personally relevant product features, such as customized search results, tailored advertising, and spam and malware detection. This analysis occurs as the content is sent, received, and when it is stored.”
One of Google’s closest competitors in the cloud storage market, Dropbox, doesn’t make similar allowances in its privacy terms. In fact, the terms very clearly state, “Your Stuff is yours.” However, that doesn’t change the fact that Dropbox also scans your data, in part to block pirated content.
On top of that, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and any other U.S.-based cloud service is subject to legally-enforced government data requests. That includes requests to feed mass surveillance programs, like the NSA PRISM initiative.
Finally, you need to worry about cybercrime, with data breaches being the most relevant problem to cloud storage. While cloud services generally host data in secure data centers built to prevent malicious attacks, such measures have historically been designed to protect against outside threats rather than inside threats (e.g., negligent or naughty employees).
Your data, remember, is worth money. Even if a corporation seems completely trustworthy, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. The best approach is to only trust cloud services with your data as much as you have to, and otherwise take privacy into your own hands.
Encrypted Cloud Backup For Os X DownloadEasy Route: Zero-Knowledge Cloud Storage
The best way to protect your cloud data from privacy issues like marketing, surveillance and cybercrime is to take the ability decrypt your files out of corporate hands. The solution is private, end-to-end encryption, which some corners of the internet have taken to calling zero-knowledge encryption, a phrase we used earlier.
Zero-knowledge encryption means your files get encrypted before leaving your machine and don’t get decrypted until you download them again from the cloud. Only you know the decryption key, which is tied to a password you set, meaning your cloud provider couldn’t unscramble your files even if director of the NSA came knocking on the data center doors.
For those that prefer simplicity, you can sign up for a zero-knowledge cloud storage service to keep your files protected. While there aren’t many such options out there, the best of the bunch are more than capable Dropbox alternatives. For our money, we like Sync.com, which not only provides superior security but great value, with 2TB of storage for around $8 per month.
With Sync.com, any file you drop in the sync folder installed in your system gets scrambled using private encryption automatically. Java for os x yosemite download for mac. There’s nothing you need to do to facilitate the process, which we discuss in more detail in our Sync.com review.
As much as we like Sync.com, though, it doesn’t have the collaboration features discussed in our Google Drive review or those of most of the best enterprise sync and share services. That however, doesn’t mean you need to give up your privacy. It just means you need to do a little bit more work to protect it.
Slightly Less Easy Route: Zero-Knowledge Encryption Services
For the rest of this article, we’re going to be looking at how to encrypt files yourself before sending them to the cloud. Thankfully, there are a handful of zero-knowledge tools available that integrate with big names in cloud storage to provide an extra security layer. https://vsgreat.weebly.com/wifi-dongle-for-mac-os-x.html.
nCrypted Cloud and Sookasa are two decent options, but neither offers the versatility and value of Boxcryptor. One of the things we like is that Boxcryptor integrates out-of-box with over 20 different cloud storage providers.
The list includes Dropbox, Google Drive, Egnyte Connect, OneDrive, Box and Amazon Drive. Additionally, you can use Boxcryptor with any cloud service that’s WebDAV capable with minimal work.
We have a full Boxcryptor review if you’d like to learn more about the pros and cons of the service. Now, let’s take a closer look out how to use Boxcryptor. Yahoo messenger for os x 10.10.1.
Signup and Install Boxcryptor
Before you start scrambling your files with Boxcryptor to outmaneuver Google’s marketing team and black-site NSA nerds, you need to create an account. Paint shop for mac os x. Boxcryptor offers a free account for non-commercial use that can be used to integrate with one cloud storage service. For business use or to integrate with unlimited cloud storage services, you’ll need to subscribe.
Once you’ve signed up, you can download and install the Boxcryptor app.
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After that, Boxcryptor will give you a quick tour of its features. Then, there’s a tutorial to show you how to use those features. You can either choose to complete the tutorial or not.
Connect Boxcryptor to Your Cloud Storage
Boxcryptor creates a virtual drive on your computer that you can access through your file system or by right-clicking on the Boxcryptor taskbar icon and selecting “open.”
This drive puts all of the files Boxcryptor is protecting for the various cloud services you use in one place, which itself is pretty convenient. However, first you need to establish the integration between those services and Boxcryptor.
To do that, right-click on the Boxcryptor taskbar icon and click “settings.” A control panel will open with several tabs at the top. The tab called “locations” is where you can create a cloud storage connection.
One of the nice things about Boxcryptor is that will automatically detect any cloud storage service you have installed as long as it’s supported out of box. All you need to do is click the radio button near the service you want to encrypt files for, and the integration is established.
Going forward, that service will appear in your Boxcryptor virtual drive.
Encrypt Files with Boxcryptor
Although we’ve now connected Boxcryptor to Dropbox, that doesn’t mean all of the Dropbox files on our test computer are automatically encrypted. We have to encrypt folders and files sent to Dropbox manually.
To do so, right click on the object, folder or file, that you want to encrypt and select “Boxcryptor > encrypt.”
Going forward, that object will be protected in the cloud.
Since encrypting a bunch of individual files individually can take a good deal of time and lead to missteps, we recommend creating a special encryption folder for your cloud storage account. That way, you can just move files into the folder that you want encrypted.
On a final note, file names aren’t automatically encrypted by Boxcryptor. You have to click a toggle in the security tab of the Boxcryptor control panel.
This feature, by the way, isn’t available on free accounts. Given that file names themselves can be used to tell a fair amount about a person, you may want to consider a subscription even if you only use one cloud storage service.
Final Thoughts
There are many ways you can protect your privacy online, from using one the best VPN services while browsing websites or torrenting, to using a cloud password manager to create more complex passwords than “iloveApplexoxo.” Privately encrypting files you intend to store in the cloud is one of the easiest things you can do.
Whether you go with a top zero-knowledge service like Sync.com or pCloud, or use Boxcryptor to protect files, you can limit the chances your personal photos, documents and other files end up in a marketing or government database, or used for identity theft or blackmail.
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Any questions? Let us know in the comments below, and thanks for reading.
Encrypting backups is a controversial subject. For some people, it's the only way to make sure their data is secure, so that no one else can get to it. For others, it defeats the very purpose of backup, allowing any error or defect to render the data unrecoverable.
If saving your photos is more important to you than securing your financial data, then skip encryption. If you have more valuable information on your desk than on your backups, skip encryption. If you worry that someone else will get access to your backups and your data, then, by all means, encrypt away. Here's how.
How to encrypt a Time Machine backup
Time Machine is Apple's built-in, set-it-and-mostly-forget-it backup system for the Mac. Turn it on, and it'll make a backup of your Mac and then keep it incrementally up to date over the hours, days, and weeks that follow. While it's not encrypted by default, you can enable encryption when you set it up.
How to encrypt a clone backup
If you're using a clone backup like SuperDuper or Carbon Copy instead of Time Machine, you can also encrypt the drive. It's a two-step process to set up but, once you've got it up and running, it's just as easy to maintain as any other cloning system.
Unless you have a recovery volume, you won't be able to boot reliably from the clone or turn on FileVault. Once that's done, you can boot back to your primary drive once FileVault gets started; you don't have to wait for it. And once the clone backup is encrypted, you'll be able to resume your regular, iterative backup process.
How to locally encrypt online backups
Online backup services like Backblaze and Carbonite are a different beast: You're not backing up to a drive under your physical control, where you can encrypt it yourself before transferring any data. You're backing up to someone else's servers in the cloud, typically using the encryption built into their client apps.
Some online backup services do let you set an encryption password, though, as a way of adding extra privacy and protection. However, it carries the same recovery cost as local encryption.
BackBlaze:
You have the option with Backblaze to add an additional layer of privacy via a user-selected passphrase. This passphrase will be used to encrypt your private key. This passphrase is your responsibility to remember and safeguard. This is important: if you forget or lose this passphrase there is no way that anyone, including Backblaze, can decrypt, and thus restore, your data. When you choose to add your own passphrase there is no 'forgot passphrase' mechanism as Backblaze does not know your passphrase.
Encrypted Cloud Backup
Carbonite:
During the initial installation, Carbonite Safe allows you to manage your own encryption key for Windows computers. If you choose to manage your own encryption key, Carbonite will prompt you to save a .PEM file which Carbonite will reference to encrypt your files before backing them up to our servers. Managing your own encryption will make it so you are the only person capable of installing the Carbonite subscription. We recommend that you do not manage encryption keys unless you have a special need to do so given the risk of data loss.
If you use a different online backup service, check with them about encryption passwords or encryption keys, and you should find the options you need.
Do you even encrypt?Backup Not Encrypted
If you encrypt your backups, let me know your strategy — what products do you use, and how do you have your system set up?
Updated March 2020: Updated local backups information.
Backing up: The ultimate guideMain
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A more musical home
Apple's new 'Behind the Mac' vid shows James Blake making music at homeEncrypted Backup Drive
Apple's latest 'Behind the Mac' video shows James Blake making music even though he's been stuck in his home studio because of 2020.
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