encrypted folder question

[Guest njem]

I would like to give a tech who does backup access to backup some

files but keep them encrypted so the tech can't read the files. My

backup program can do its own encryption but that doesn't help. The

nightly backup fetches files from systems all over the building into a

big backup. We're not going to set up separate backups for every user

who has a couple of folders they want to keep private. If we encrypt

the entire backup the tech would need that password for anytime

someone says they need to restore a lost file.

 

I thought I could just encrypt a subfolder of mine but...

A: If I encrypt the folder and its contents then the backup says it

can't access the file.

B: If I just encrypt the folder then the backup pulls the file out of

the folder and puts it in the backup, where it is no longer encrypted.

Anyone who restores that file can read it.

 

I'm sure I'm missing something simple. How do I do this?

 

Thanks,

Tom

[Guest John Wunderlich]

Re: encrypted folder question

 

njem <njem@q.com> wrote in

news:f55feb65-4591-468b-98db-ecc6bd642689@w1g2000prd.googlegroups.com

:

> I would like to give a tech who does backup access to backup some

> files but keep them encrypted so the tech can't read the files. My

> backup program can do its own encryption but that doesn't help.

> The nightly backup fetches files from systems all over the

> building into a big backup. We're not going to set up separate

> backups for every user who has a couple of folders they want to

> keep private. If we encrypt the entire backup the tech would need

> that password for anytime someone says they need to restore a lost

> file.

>

> I thought I could just encrypt a subfolder of mine but...

> A: If I encrypt the folder and its contents then the backup says

> it can't access the file.

> B: If I just encrypt the folder then the backup pulls the file out

> of the folder and puts it in the backup, where it is no longer

> encrypted. Anyone who restores that file can read it.

>

> I'm sure I'm missing something simple. How do I do this?

>

> Thanks,

> Tom

>

 

I would install the freeware program "Truecrypt".

<http://www.truecrypt.org>

 

You can then create an encrypted container file which, under Truecrypt

and with a password, will mount as another disk. Anything written or

read to this virtual disk will be encrypted on-the-fly. Once

dismounted, the container file exists on your computer as an ordinary

file that contains your encrypted data and can be backed-up, restored,

or whatever and is indistinguishable from any other ordinary file on

your system.

 

HTH,

John

[Guest njem]

Re: encrypted folder question

 

I looked at Truecrypt once for an external backup disk. Pretty good

program and I may use it if I need to. This will need to be applied to

a number of systems around the office and it would be nice to just

turn on XP encryption as needed. I hope I'm missing something about

how to use XP encryption for this. Is it your understanding XP won't

do what I want?

 

On May 18, 4:12 pm, John Wunderlich <jwunderl...@lycos.com> wrote:

> I would install the freeware program "Truecrypt".

> <http://www.truecrypt.org>

> John

[Guest John Wunderlich]

Re: encrypted folder question

 

njem <njem@q.com> wrote in

news:a1e399b5-2461-4fcc-bf4a-82df8241c115@q27g2000prf.googlegroups.co

m:

> On May 18, 4:12 pm, John Wunderlich <jwunderl...@lycos.com> wrote:

>> I would install the freeware program "Truecrypt".

>> <http://www.truecrypt.org>

>> John

>

> I looked at Truecrypt once for an external backup disk. Pretty

> good program and I may use it if I need to. This will need to be

> applied to a number of systems around the office and it would be

> nice to just turn on XP encryption as needed. I hope I'm missing

> something about how to use XP encryption for this. Is it your

> understanding XP won't do what I want?

>

 

Microsoft's EFS encryption is tied very strongly to one user on one

machine. It wouldn't surprise me if you aren't missing anything. If

your machine ever crashes and you don't have a backup of your

certificates, you'll lose the information permanently even if you can

recover the file. (This newsgroup is full of past posts that can attest

to that).

 

Truecrypt's containers work well on any machine and can even be used

securely over a networked drive. The encryption key is contained

(encrypted) in the first kilobyte or so of the container and Truecrypt

has a utility to back this up if you are worried about losing data due

to file corruption. Truecrypt has pretty good pedigree and IMHO it is

one of the best freeware out there. It features a "Traveller Mode"

such that it can be used on other systems (via USB thumbdrive, etc)

without installing the application although the caveat is that the user

must have Administrator privilege on the machine.

 

-- John