In Linux, how does one encrypt cloud storage files and folders?

In Linux, how does one encrypt cloud storage files and folders?

Most of us use cloud storage services such as Dropbox, Gdrive, or Copy to use synchronized files from any of our devices anytime and anywhere. However, no one can safely put their sensitive data on the cloud storage platform. The recent hacking incident shows how insecure our data is. In 2014, many celebrity photos were leaked from the cloud storage platform and published on social network websites. So, why not encrypt the data and then upload it to the cloud storage platform to enhance security?

What is encryption?

If you use Google to search for "What is Encryption ?", This explanation will be found:

"Data encryption is the most effective way to ensure data security. To read an encrypted file, you must have a key or password to interpret the file. Unencrypted data is called plaintext data, and encrypted data is called ciphertext text ."

From the definition of Webopedian, we can clearly see that encryption refers to converting files from accessible format to inaccessible format, so that no one can use them. After you encrypt the file, set a password so that only those who have the password can access the file.

Why encrypt cloud storage files or folders?

The main purpose of this article is not only to strengthen security protection against hackers, but also to prevent your friends, relatives, and team members. If you have multiple computers and the cloud storage client software is installed on these computers, you are bound to be able to view your photos and files uploaded from other devices. Therefore, once you encrypt files, you cannot access them from any other device, unless you provide your password to the other party.

For Dropbox, copy, Gdrive, Onedrive (Skydrive) and many other cloud storage services, they are already encrypting files and making them inaccessible. But as the recent hacking incident shows, our files are still insecure even after this encryption. If you upload encrypted sensitive files, this is an additional security step. In 2014, cloud storage accounts of many celebrities were hacked (most of them were female) and their sensitive (or even many were naked) photos were published on social network websites, see this article on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_celebrity_photo_hack ).

In Ubuntu/Linux Mint, how does one encrypt cloud storage files or folders?

To Encrypt our sensitive data, we will use the free encryption software/program named "encfs ". Before installing and configuring encfs, let's take a look at how it works. Don't worry, it's very simple.

Unlike any other encryption program, encfs creates two folders. One is the folder that stores the decrypted files (don't worry, it is still inaccessible ). The second folder stores the encrypted file.

Here, the second folder containing encrypted files or folders will be our cloud storage folder, such as the Dropbox folder, grive folder (unofficial customer software for Google cloud hard drive), or copy folder.

The above is what you need to know. Start now.

Open the terminal (ctrl + alt + T) and install encfs:

$ sudo apt-get install encfs

The encfs command automatically creates a folder, but it does not create a folder for me. An error is displayed, so you can manually create a folder to avoid any errors.

Create two folders, one in your cloud storage folder, in this article it is "encrypted"; the other in this article "Private", but for ease of access, create in your main folder.

One version is used for encryption and the other for decryption.

encfs ~/Dropbox/encrypted ~/Private

You can change the preceding command as needed. For example, if you use Copy, Grive, or any other client software to synchronize files, replace "Dropbox" with the folder name. This will create a folder named "encrypted" in your storage folder.

~ /Private is the second folder in your main folder. You will put the files in this place, which will be automatically encrypted and synchronized with the/Dropbox/encrypted folder. While Dropbox or any other service will synchronize those encrypted files !!!

The system requires you to enter "p" (preconfigured paranoid mode), "x" (expert configuration mode), or press the Enter key, if "p" or "x" is not input, the standard mode is used.

"P" should be able to run normally, so enter "p ".

You are required to enter the password or encryption key used to access the encrypted file on your system. Don't forget the password. Otherwise, you won't be able to access your files.

Therefore, encrypt our first file and upload it to Dropbox.