[ale] Personal Backup Strategies?

[JK]

On 2/4/2010 8:07 AM, Greg Freemyer wrote:
> Why do you assume the far end is trusted?


... because he's backing his stuff up there.

Ed is asking for an encrypted view of an un-encrypted local filesystem,
for purposes of backup to a remote location. The only reason I can
think of to want that, is for security during transport.  The nature
of the remote location was unspecified, so I assume that it's not an
issue.  Maybe he's backing up to a teletype in SAC HQ where gnomes carefully
write down the incoming data on parchment, store it in a hardened fireproof
lockbox, store that in a vault 15 stories underground, and then commit mass
suicide immediately thereafter.  None of that would be pertinent to the
question of why one would want an encrypted view of a clear local filesystem.
If the objective is to secure the data stream in transit, then the
straightforward answer would be to, well, encrypt the data stream in
transit.

Maybe I'm missing something, though.

-- JK



> I pay $20/month for a rsync server.
>
> I don't  trust them with unencrypted docs.
>
> Greg
>
>
>
> On 2/4/10, JK<jknapka at kneuro.net>  wrote:
>> On 2/4/2010 7:08 AM, Ed Cashin wrote:
>>
>>> With encfs, I think the norm is for the files to be encrypted,
>>> and encfs gives you a decrypted filesystem "view" of those files.
>>> By "norm", I mean that if somebody boots your computer but
>>> can't run encfs with your password, they see the encrypted files.
>>>
>>> But I'd like the opposite: A filesystem that gives me an encrypted
>>> view of the files that are lying unencrypted on my Linux host or
>>> MacBook.  That way I can rdiff-backup the encrypted view to an
>>> less trusted remote location, and I can continue to use my filesystem
>>> as it is (only sensitive files are encrypted) for normal use.
>>
>>
>> I assume the "less trusted remote location" at least has enough
>> security in place (via an encrypted filesystem or whatever) to
>> satisfy you.  So the issue must be security during transport.
>> Use rsync over SSH, or an encrypted tunnel for whatever sync
>> tool you prefer.
>>
>> -- JK
>>
>>
>> --
>> We Americans are a freedom-loving people, and nothing says "freedom"
>> like Getting Away With It. -- Guy Forsyth, "Long Long Time"
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ale mailing list
>> Ale at ale.org
>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>
>


-- 
We Americans are a freedom-loving people, and nothing says "freedom"
like Getting Away With It. -- Guy Forsyth, "Long Long Time"