Strange corruption

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Well, what i would do is to use some encrypted password program like 1Passsword, sync it through the Internet on Apple's iCloud service and have all that data with my on my iPhone and iPad wherever I go (if I need it ) and yet encrypted quite tightly both on my home Mac and at Apple's iCloud server. Then if Burglar Bill gets my MBP there is nothing there that isn't encrypted beyond the ability of Burglar Bill to decrypt and I don't take a chance on accidentally dropping the USB stick anywhere, or having my purse snatched. (If i carried a purse.) Oh, wait, that IS what I do...nevermind.
 
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… …or having my purse snatched. (If i carried a purse.) Oh, wait, that IS what I do...nevermind.


Carrying a man-purse is fine and often a good idea Jake, but I draw the line and my tolerance ends for any man-buns!!! And excessive tattoos, and rings in the ear, eylid or nose… aghhhh…… ;P




- Patrick
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I've carried all kinds of bags, Patrick, but now I have a very slim wallet that I carry in my front pocket. I have 2 ID cards, 3 credit cards and two bank cards, and that's all. I'm trying minimalism.
 
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On the basis that this old dog can always be taught new tricks...

The commercially available on-line 'safes', where you pays your money and get (hopefully) deep layers of encryption - how are they more secure than my crude system whereby no data stays in our flat when we're not also there?

Or, put the question slightly differently: ARE they more secure? On the basis that most countries have their security systems hacked regularly, and one assumes that they don't use their mother's maiden names as passwords, just how secure are the commercial digital on-line safes?

Allen.
 
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You can read about 1Password's approach here: https://1password.com/security/

And about Dashlane's security here: https://www.dashlane.com/download/Dashlane_SecurityWhitePaper_December2017.pdf

I would assess the security of current technology like that as being above the security of carrying things around on a USB stick. All it takes is for that stick to be left behind, dropped, stolen and not only do the bad guys have it, you don't and can't get it back because you took it from your home machine. I know you said you both have copies, but even so, during the time Burglar Bill knows he has the data and you find out you don't, BB can do a lot of damage.

As far as I know, neither 1Password nor Dashlane nor Apple have suffered significant data breeches. Apple did have some accounts hacked who had very weak passwords a few years ago, but has implemented 2FA to make that highly unlikely any more. And even if the hackers get to my account, the password file is still AES-256 encrypted. For more reading on AES-256, here is a wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Encryption_Standard#Known_attacks

Frankly, computer security is like home security. I don't need to be absolutely uncrackable, as long as I am more difficult to crack than my neighbor. Burglar Bill wants the hardware, not the data on the hardware, so just some simple things will make it harder for BB than it's worth to him.
 
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Amused by 1Password’s comment:

Get your Emergency Kit off your computer. Put it on a USB flash drive or print a copy. The Emergency Kit protects you in situations where you can’t sign in, so it is important that you have access to it if something ever happens to your computer.

Sounds familiar. But I will read on..A
 
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I've been digging around, and have a couple of operational questions. (I like 'Spideroak' - their approach to security seems similar to mine, i.e. trust nobody!)

So, you set up your account, and have a 'digital safe' out there in the cloud. Then, I send my superencrypted 'sensitive' files to that safe, and there they sit.

And can I then DELETE them from my computer? Point is, I don't want my supersensitive files to be left lying around my flat (on my hard drive, wherever). I want them gone.

And then, given that the whole kaboosh is only 20Mb, can I call it back to my machine as and when I need it, de-encrypt it, use it, and send it back to my safe?

If that's not how it works, how does it work?

You've convinced me of the idea of distant safe-keeping, it's just the day-to-day workings of it that I'm trying to get my head round. I know what I'm describing isn't what these systems are set up for, which seems to be backing up, but my variation should work, I think.

Any enlightenment appreciated.

Allen.
 
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I've been digging around, and have a couple of operational questions. (I like 'Spideroak' - their approach to security seems similar to mine, i.e. trust nobody!)



Why not just use Apples free 5GB iCloud allotment space.

iCloud security overview
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT202303

Security and your Apple ID
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201303

Stay Secure in iCloud In A Way Most People Don’t Know
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/10-useful-tips-stay-secure-icloud.html

Note: No "cloud" type storage will work during any power or communication outage which I'm sure you knew.

PS: You can get some pretty secure and safe storage for your needs by using a flash or hard drive and encrypt the data if you like, and just keep them in a zip-lock freezer bag and keep it in your freezer.

Not many thieves look there, especially when mixed in among the ground meat and they're safe from most fires and other catastrophes.

And handy during a power failure — if you have a portable laptop to use, and it's a good cheap storage method as well. :Smirk:


PPS: BTW, that suggestion was from a local fireman and insurance adjuster.




- Patrick
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You write:
PS: You can get some pretty secure and safe storage for your needs by using a flash or hard drive and encrypt the data if you like, and just keep them in a zip-lock freezer bag and keep it in your freezer.

But (with the exception of the freezer bit) isn’t that what I already do? And for which practice I’ve been castigated in these very columns?

Thanks, though, for the links. I will peruse.

A
 
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The suggestion to use iCloud is a good one. I don't know what SpiderOak offers or what security they claim, but if you use iCloud and 2FA, the data will be about as safe as you can make it. If you want more, encrypt it before you send it up to iCloud, but Apple's security is among the best. I'd rather have Apple, with their stated attitude toward privacy, holding my data that some other company about whom all I know is what the Internet tells me.

The freezer suggestion is not one I personally would take. The cold temperatures will cause the USB drive to shrink in size slightly, but the various components may well contact at different rates, leading to stresses on the solder connections of the surface components. Add in the little bit of moisture from the air trapped in the ziplock bag and you have a terrific potential to have the USB drive shrink but the water condensing and expanding as it freezes. Things could go wonky pretty quickly. The refrigerator section, maybe in the vegetable bin, might be slightly better and just as protective of fire. It should be above freezing, so the contraction/expansion will be less in both directions, reducing the overall stress.

I guess the "castigation" I would offer is that unless your flat gets broken into frequently, you really don't need to be that paranoid about credit card information. I had suggested 1Password and you thought its recommendation about the Emergency kit was humorous, but if you think about what they are saying, the Emergency Kit is not a list of your passwords or files, but an emergency kit for the Master Password to enable you to decrypt the 1Password where the passwords/files are encrypted if you forget the master password. So what you might carry around would NOT be the data itself, but an emergency key to it.

Frankly, what I would do is get 1Password, put your sensitive stuff in it, then print off the Emergency kit and put THAT in the freezer in a zip lock bag. Now 1Password can sync to your smartphone so you have the data with you, AND on the Mac, both encrypted and secure so that even if Burglar Bill gets in and takes the MBP, the sensitive data is locked away from his prying eyes. You need one password to decrypt it all when you want it and that one password is safely secured in your mind with a backup in the freezer below the frozen veggies. Remember, if you lose that Master Password nobody, including the good folks at 1Password, can open that file for you. The Emergency Kit is like a spare emergency key to your flat that you leave with a trusted neighbor, just in case you lose your keys. Here are the suggestions 1Password makes in the discussion of the Emergency Kit:
Follow these tips to prepare your Emergency Kit and store it safely:
Print a copy to keep in a safe deposit box or wherever you keep your passport or birth certificate.
Write your Master Password in at least one printed copy of your Emergency Kit.
Keep a copy on a USB drive to make sure a digital copy is outside of the devices you use with 1Password.
Give a copy to someone you trust, like your spouse or someone in your will.
Those are options, so you pick the one you want. Personally, I would not use the USB stick because of their unreliability and relatively high failure rate. Paper won't fail, so printing and hiding the emergency key to 1Password seems more logical to me. You could put it in an envelop and give it to a trusted neighbor and ask them to hold it for you, or tuck it into a book in your library, or mail to a relative, or just about anything. Keeping it off-site will avoid losing in a fire or burglary.

Or, if you are comfortable, you can keep doing what you are doing but to me what you are doing is the more risky approach. Lose that USB stick and your data is gone. Have it stolen and your life is exposed to the thief. Have it fail and all that data is gone. It's your choice.
 
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But (with the exception of the freezer bit) isn’t that what I already do? And for which practice I’ve been castigated in these very columns?


Not as I read and understand what has been posted here. But adding the protection of using the freezer does change things a fair bit and you don't have to take anything with you out into mugging land at night.




- Patrick
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If you want more, encrypt it before you send it up to iCloud, but Apple's security is among the best.


I believe Apple encrypts most data as soon as it's sent from the computer. As their kb article says:
iCloud secures your information by encrypting it when it's in transit, storing it in iCloud in an encrypted format, and using secure tokens for authentication. For certain sensitive information, Apple uses end-to-end encryption. This means that only you can access your information, and only on devices where you’re signed into iCloud. No one else, not even Apple, can access end-to-end encrypted information.


The freezer suggestion is not one I personally would take.
Yes, the refrigerator's crisper may be a better option but just hope "Burglar Bill" isn't too hungry and goes looking for a snack.
But did you ever go through the hard drive "sticksion" phase and the freezer fix??? :Smirk:




- Patrick
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Heh! Patrick, I had a hard drive that was failing, but which would work long enough to boot up before it overheated. I ran long cables from my computer to put the boot drive in the freezer, booted it while it was in there, copied off the data I wanted from it and then got rid of it. Freezers can be handy!

I thought I had read about the end-to-end encryption, but was too lazy to go look. So now the argument to put the stuff in iCloud is even better. I use 1Password, sync to my iDevices through iCloud, so my 256bit encrypted 1Password file gets encrypted again on the way to iCloud. Nice!
 
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Heh! Patrick, I had a hard drive that was failing, but which would work long enough to boot up before it overheated. I ran long cables from my computer to put the boot drive in the freezer, booted it while it was in there, copied off the data I wanted from it and then got rid of it. Freezers can be handy!


I love that Jake, but must admit I had never heard of someone keeping the drive in the freezer. That's almost bizarre!! But hey, whatever it takes to work. Well done.




- Patrick
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It was the head actuator circuit that overheated. Putting it in the freezer kept it from overheating and let me rescue my files. Once I had them, I sledgehammered the drive to make it unreadable and disposed of it. Gotta get creative some times.
 
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It was the head actuator circuit that overheated. Putting it in the freezer kept it from overheating and let me rescue my files. Once I had them, I sledgehammered the drive to make it unreadable and disposed of it. Gotta get creative some times.


I hope you partly dismantled it and got those incredibly strong and handy magnets out of it??? ;D




- Patrick
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