encryption and backups
Warning: total geek post
I'm recovering some data here and there slowly. I've found some sources for some of the contact information I used to have and I just downloaded all of my LJ entries to my new work computer. I did have a hard drive of all of my MP3s/OGGs from 4 months ago, and luckily, it included all of the videos that I'd transferred from VHS to a digital format.
I've also been a bit obsessed over the last couple of weeks with making sure that nothing like this catastrophe could ever happen again. I had been worried about having my data on the net, because I didn't want someone else to be able to "root" around in it. Well, I've been looking at several different solutions, and finally I think I have two tools that meet my needs.
The first tool is an encrypted, incremental backup system called Duplicity, which is particularly cool in that one's files can be recovered with standard unix tools if, for whatever reason, Duplicity itself disappears from the face of the planet. This lets me put a copy of my files on the net without worry about what other people can see.
The other tool I'm using in EncFS, which is an encrypted filesystem which is mountable in userspace. I'm currently using this for the drives I mount and want to have synced instead of just holding a copy of the backup. At the moment, this is less important for me, since I only have one work laptop that I'm carrying back and forth to home, but I think I'm about to have a laptop at home as well. Syncing machines will be more important at that point.
Finally, I am going to go ahead and encrypt my home directory on my laptop(s). This isn't done yet, but it's in the works.
And, of course, I keep kicking myself for not having done at least the Duplicity thing at some point in the past.
I'm recovering some data here and there slowly. I've found some sources for some of the contact information I used to have and I just downloaded all of my LJ entries to my new work computer. I did have a hard drive of all of my MP3s/OGGs from 4 months ago, and luckily, it included all of the videos that I'd transferred from VHS to a digital format.
I've also been a bit obsessed over the last couple of weeks with making sure that nothing like this catastrophe could ever happen again. I had been worried about having my data on the net, because I didn't want someone else to be able to "root" around in it. Well, I've been looking at several different solutions, and finally I think I have two tools that meet my needs.
The first tool is an encrypted, incremental backup system called Duplicity, which is particularly cool in that one's files can be recovered with standard unix tools if, for whatever reason, Duplicity itself disappears from the face of the planet. This lets me put a copy of my files on the net without worry about what other people can see.
The other tool I'm using in EncFS, which is an encrypted filesystem which is mountable in userspace. I'm currently using this for the drives I mount and want to have synced instead of just holding a copy of the backup. At the moment, this is less important for me, since I only have one work laptop that I'm carrying back and forth to home, but I think I'm about to have a laptop at home as well. Syncing machines will be more important at that point.
Finally, I am going to go ahead and encrypt my home directory on my laptop(s). This isn't done yet, but it's in the works.
And, of course, I keep kicking myself for not having done at least the Duplicity thing at some point in the past.