Encrypted partition in the cloud

Cheetah Designs · 1 May 2014 at 15:56

Is this possible to do?

I would like to have an encrypted partition that I sync with the cloud.

The issue is that every time I read a file it changes an attribute which in turn caused all of the data to change and therefore it all needs to be synced again.

Is there a way around this yet?

Nymins · 1 May 2014 at 15:59

Would it not be better to have some local network storage to sync it to, rather than the cloud? If you don't trust them in the first place, then why bother using them at all even if its encrypted?

gord · 1 May 2014 at 16:21

Cheetah Designs said:
I don't trust any of these online services with my data so would like to have an encrypted partition that I sync with the cloud.

If you don't trust online services with your data don't use online storage.

Any good online storage provider will detail whether they encrypt your data locally and then upload securely to their servers.

Cheetah Designs · 1 May 2014 at 16:22

Because I don't want the hassle of setting up and running the local network storage. I'd rather have it always available in the cloud.

Cheetah Designs · 1 May 2014 at 16:23

gord said:
If you don't trust online services with your data don't use online storage.

Any good online storage provider will detail whether they encrypt your data locally and then upload securely to their servers.

Edited the OP - I think we are getting off point.

ocmanus · 1 May 2014 at 16:30

Do you mean 1 archive when you refer to a partition? If so then no. I'm sure there are tools that encrypt transparently at the OS level?

ocmanus · 1 May 2014 at 16:31

Any of these useful?
https://www.boxcryptor.com/en/dropbox
https://www.cloudfogger.com/en/

Cheetah Designs · 1 May 2014 at 16:40

ocmanus said:
Do you mean 1 archive when you refer to a partition? If so then no. I'm sure there are tools that encrypt transparently at the OS level?

Well I don't really care if its per file or not, I'd just like the files encrypted before they are uploaded.

EDIT: Having a look at your links now

JonJ678 · 1 May 2014 at 17:01

The issue is that most decent encryption algorithms will change most of the volume whenever a minor change is made to the container. So if you have 4gb of data in the cloud, then you change one text file, you get to upload the 4gb all over again. This tends to limit the amount of encrypted data you want on the other end of a network.

gord · 2 May 2014 at 09:10

Cheetah Designs said:
I'd just like the files encrypted before they are uploaded.

Sorry I wasn't trying to be provocative before, I just don't see what benefit you're getting with this process. Don't all good online storage providers do this?

http://www.carbonite.com/online-backup

Your files are encrypted before they leave your computer and stay encrypted on our servers.

KIA · 2 May 2014 at 12:13

gord said:
Sorry I wasn't trying to be provocative before, I just don't see what benefit you're getting with this process. Don't all good online storage providers do this?

No. Most of them are able to decrypt user content.

gord · 2 May 2014 at 12:34

KIA said:
No. Most of them are able to decrypt user content.

I'd expect them all to be able to. I'd expect their decryption procedures to be extremely well guarded. I'd expect none of them to do so unless required by law with good grounds for investigation. So if we take your point and extrapolate the only logical conclusion is that Cheetah is trying to back up his dirty bomb plans?

Obviously what we were actually discussing is the upload process. I wasn't sure if Cheetah was aware that these services are encrypting from the start, therefore alleviating concern of data interception.

KIA · 2 May 2014 at 17:24

gord said:
I'd expect them all to be able to. I'd expect their decryption procedures to be extremely well guarded. I'd expect none of them to do so unless required by law with good grounds for investigation. So if we take your point and extrapolate the only logical conclusion is that Cheetah is trying to back up his dirty bomb plans?

There's a big difference between 'trust no one' encryption and encryption for the sake of marketing.

theheyes · 2 May 2014 at 20:35

Also, the big providers have been shown to be lacking with encryption between their own servers which is a huge facepalm.

For maximum peace of mind you'll want to be looking at TNO services where you hold the key. It usually comes at the expense of convenience, though.

Cromulent · 3 May 2014 at 07:25

SpiderOak is probably one of the easiest and safest options in this space. It might not be perfect but it is pretty close.

KIA · 3 May 2014 at 10:57

Cromulent said:
SpiderOak is probably one of the easiest and safest options in this space. It might not be perfect but it is pretty close.

It would be close to perfect if they had a presence in an EU data centre.

Energize · 3 May 2014 at 17:17

You can mount the remote partition locally and then sync the files to it.

"The cloud" doesn't really mean anything though. It would help to know what kind of setup you are using or want. For example it would be trivial to do it over SFTP or VPN and your connection to the server would be encrypted that way as well, but might not be possible if it's some flash based crap. I don't use these kind of services much so I'm not totally sure how they typically work.

Cromulent · 3 May 2014 at 21:23

KIA said:
It would be close to perfect if they had a presence in an EU data centre.

True, but the speed seems adequate and due to the fact that all your files are encrypted with a unique encryption key there is no chance that anyone else can access your data even with a warrant so you shouldn't worry about the US government gaining access to your files.