Essentially, the data you store in Dropbox can't even be accessed by Dropbox itself because users get to keep the encryption keys. SafeNet Labs, for example, just launched a beta of SafeMonk, which adds a secure encryption log-in to Dropbox. "It is an issue with provider staff morale."Īpart from downloading freeware, such as TruCrypt, and encrypting every folder or file before it's uploaded to the cloud, new automated tools are emerging that handle the job of cloud storage security more seamlessly. of rogue employees who collect data to sell to credit card fraudsters," Heiser said. That's because many data breaches involve frustrated service provider employees who see treasure-troves of data as a way to make a quick buck. So should consumers add security to their cloud storage repositories to keep their data even more secure from prying providers and government snoops? Absolutely, says Heiser. Last month, the ACLU also obtained documents showing that the IRS does not always get a court order to read citizens' emails. attorneys' offices revealed startling realities around the government's email surveillance practices. New documents obtained by the ACLU from the FBI and U.S. "It's not unique to the U.S., although the United States brags about it to a unique degree." "It is the case everywhere in the world that governments seem to believe that if data is recorded and available, they should be able to access it," said Jay Heiser, an analyst with research firm Gartner. government claims the right to read personal online data without warrants. Newly disclosed information, however, has added to public sensitivity around government intrusion.įreedom of Information Act requests by the American Civil Liberties Union revealed last week that the U.S. Another 79.8% of the requests resulted in disclosure of subscriber or transactional information affecting 56,388 accounts. Only 2.2% of those requests resulted in Microsoft turning over of actual content 1,558 accounts were affected. Taking all this into account, we are obliged to conclude that, unfortunately, the SafeMonk app is not suitable for day to day use, and will lead to extremely frustrating situations.During the same period, Microsoft received 70,665 requests affecting 122,015 accounts - more than three times as many requests for information disclosure as Google. The issues stopped upon ejecting the SafeMonk virtual volume and closing the app. The worse news is that during the transfer both Macs have been rendered unusable: even if there was no indication of CPU or RAM resources being used, the Finder and other applications running on the system were rendered unresponsive. In both cases, transferring data to the SafeMonk volume took a long time: 10 minutes for 5 files summing up to 2MB on the first Mac, and 5 minutes for a 5MB file on the latter. SafeMonk has been tested on an 2GHz Intel Core Duo iMac sporting 6GB RAM, and on a Dual 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon Mac Pro with 12GB RAM. Unpolished and buggy solution for encrypting Dropbox files For your convenience, SafeMonk offers to automatically lock the volume when quitting the app (navigate to the Preferences). At the same time, the connection to the SafeMonk servers is secured by the TLS 1.1 protocol, and is also encrypted by the AES algorithm.įurthermore, you have the opportunity to lock and unlock the SafeMonk virtual volume within the SafeMonk menubar: this is very important to remember if you share your Mac with others. SafeMonk is using 256bit AES algorithm to encrypt the data, while the directory keys are protected by a private RSA key. To keep everything safe, you will have access to the data contained in the SafeMonk volume only if the application is running on your device: the utility is handling the end to end encryption keys. Secure files and folders sharing via Dropbox servers At the same time, you can also share specific SafeMonk folders with others via Dropbox, and create a secure work environment for your team. SafeMonk automatically generates a virtual volume that is linked to your Dropbox folder: all the files placed in that volume will be immediately encrypted. The first time you launch the SafeMonk app you have to provides your account’s credentials and the utility will generate a recovery code that is required in case you forget your password. To get started, you must first register for a SafeMonk account, free of charge, on the developer’s website: the SafeMonk service is free for non-commercial use. Quick to setup status bar menu utility for encrypting data inside the Dropbox folder SafeMonk is a Mac application designed to help you secure the transfers by encrypting the data. Using Dropbox to sync files and folders between different devices, or to share project files with others is extremely time efficient.
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