Fair Backup

Backup encryption is something rarely thought about, as “Whatever can happen to my backups?”. Let’s see if it is really true.

Sure, if you backup to your own external hard disk drive, you may not fear, if you keep your drive safe (with you, at home, or in a bank cell). However, even if you keep your HDD in a car or at work, you’d rather encrypt your backups, in case your external hard disk drive (or a USB flash drive) is stolen.

Now, if you store your backups somewhere offsite (in a storing facility or on a remote server), you just ought to use backup encryption. Though your backups are relatively secure, you still need to guarantee yourself from someone reading what you have. It is good if you backup via secure FTP, but what if not?

Another moment to remember is backup to DVD or CD. It is so easy to lose them and it is so easy to forget them (not to mention flash sticks). Encrypting your files should also be helpful in this.

In general, the only way you don’t need to encrypt your files is when you are absolutely sure your backup medium is absolutely safe. If you are a good backuper, you know that you shouldn’t store your backup with the original, which means it can’t be as secure as your own home or work.

While you may have a false feeling of security, using backup encryption is pretty easy and is not a niusance, if you use the same backup software to restore your backups (and remember your password, which is another matter altogether).