russellballestrini
ee2e180793
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59 lines
2.7 KiB
ReStructuredText
59 lines
2.7 KiB
ReStructuredText
Dropbox Encryption with TrueCrypt
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#################################
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:date: 2011-04-16 12:50
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:author: Russell Ballestrini
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:tags: Greatest Hits, Opinion, Security
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:slug: dropbox-encryption-with-truecrypt
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:status: published
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:summary:
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The best security acts like an onion.
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`Derek Newton <https://dereknewton.com/2011/04/dropbox-authentication-static-host-ids/>`_
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recently invoked discussion about insecurities in Dropbox authentication.
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In his article he describes how an attacker could exploit Dropbox and gain access to unshared files.
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The concerns he raised do appear accurate however we must remember that security is an onion.
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|onion|
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An onion, like security, has layers to protect its vital parts.
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The vital parts are more vulnerable when its security model only possess one layer.
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As we add layers to our security model, our system's protection grows exponentially.
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In the case of Dropbox, the username and password act as the first
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layer. Experts agree that a simple authentication layer will provide
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enough protection for nonsensitive data. However when attempting to
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protect sensitive data we must pair authorization with encryption.
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Generally speaking file systems have maintained a sense of insecurity,
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which makes them useful. Not encrypting files on Dropbox is akin to not
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encrypting files on a shared PC. Sensitive data should always be
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encrypted *regardless* of its location or media. We should treat
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sensitive data-at-rest on Dropbox the same way we treat sensitive data
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on local, optical or flash disk. *We should encrypt it!*
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**So how does a user encrypt their Dropbox?**
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My strongly opinionated solution uses TrueCrypt to create an encrypted
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volume in the Dropbox directory. Simply treat the Dropbox like a normal
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directory, follow the TrueCrypt documentation to build a volume, and
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give Dropbox a chance to sync the data. When the sync completes, the
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TrueCrypt volume will be mountable on each of your Dropbox enabled
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computers.
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I have to admit at first I was skeptical, but the software cooperates
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surprisingly well and after the initial sync proceeding syncs occur
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quickly! I prefer TrueCrypt because it is open source, cross platform,
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and free (both in freedom and cost). TrueCrypt also functions and
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performs better then any other solution including commercial products
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like GuardianEdge or PGP both recently acquired by Symantec.
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All security and encryption software should remain open sourced and peer
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reviewed to prevent harmful tampering. Commercial software, written in a
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black-box vacuum, prevents customers from viewing its code and
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procedures. We cannot trust software for security when we cannot view
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its source code.
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You should follow me on twitter
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`here <https://twitter.com/russellbal>`_
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.. |onion| image:: /uploads/2011/04/onion.png
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