Windows Help & Advice - UK (2020-03)

Encrypt

backups in

the cloud

Mountencrypteddatadrives

automaticallywithWindows.

whichyoursensitivefilesarestored.The
keydifferenceisthatCryptomator
encryptsfilesandfoldersindividually,
ratherthanaspartofa largerfile,so
changesaresmallerandquickerto
uploadanddownload.

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Tostart,gotowww.cryptomator.org/
downloadsandclickDownload 64 Bit.
Oncesavedtoyourharddrive,double-
clickthesetupfile,andfollowtheinstall
prompts,makingsureyouinstallthe
DokanFileSystemDriverwhenasked.
Rebootif prompted.
OpenCryptomatorviatheSearch
boxorStartmenu,thenenablethe
integratedupdatecheckwhen
promptedtoensureCryptomatorstays
uptodate.Clickthe‘+’buttonand
chooseCreateNewVault.Navigateto
yourcloudfolder,giveyourvaulta
suitablename(thiswillbethenameof
thefoldercontainingyourencrypted
filesonthedrive,sodon’tmakeit too
obvious),andclickSave.
You’repromptedtocreatea
passwordtoprotectthevaultand
accessit fromothercomputersor
mobiledevices.Werecommend
generatinga longrandomoneusing
yourpasswordmanager(storethe
passwordasa securenote).Once

enteredandsafelyrecorded,click

CreateVault.

ClickMoreOptionstosavethe

passwordandautomaticallymountthe

driveatstartup(onlyrecommendedon

a securePC).Youcanalsochangethe

drivenameandchoosea driveletter.

Thenenteryourpasswordandclick

UnlockVault.

AnewExplorerwindoweventually

opens,pointingtoyournewvirtual

drive(it’salsoaccessibleviaThisPC

underNetworklocations)– simply

copyorsavefilesinhere,andthey’re

encryptedsecurelybeforebeing

uploadedtothecloud.

Whendone,youcanleavethedrive

unlockeduntilyoushutdownyourPC

or– if securityisanissue– openthe

mainwindowandclickLockVaultto

closeit down(enteryourpasswordand

clickUnlockVaulttobringit backlater

if youneedto).

Youcanaccessyourcloud-hosted

vaultfromothercomputersbyinstalling

Cryptomatoronthereandchoosing

Openexistingvault.Thereareeven

paid-forappsforAndroidorApple

phonesif youneedtouploadsensitive

fileswhileontheroad.

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OurmaingripewithCryptomatoristhat

itspresencecan’tbehidden– and,in

fact,isblindinglyobvioustoanyhacker

combingthroughyourfolders.That’s

becauseitsmasterkeyisvisibleinside

thefoldercontainingyourencrypted

data(eventhename– masterkey.

cryptomator– isn’tsubtle).This

highlightstheneedtokeepan

independentbackupofanydatastored

ina Cryptomatorvaultincasethesekey

filesaredamagedorlost.

If that’sa deal-breaker,consider

switchingbacktoVeraCrypt,but

minimisethesizeofyourvault(make

multiplesmallervaults,ratherthan

onelargeone).Thishelpsreducethe

amountofbandwidthusedwhen

uploadinganddownloadingchanges

toencryptedfiles.Anotherapproach

istousecloudstorageforencrypted

fileandimage-basedbackups(see

boxabove).Q

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drive,butwhataboutyourbackups?By

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unencryptedona localornetwork

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beenencryptedwithVeraCryptor

BitLocker,butwhatif youjustwantthe

backupstobeencrypted;perhapsyou’d

liketostorethemsecurelyin thecloud?

7 heanswerlieswiththefreeand

open-sourcebackuptoolDuplicati,

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Cryptomatorforthecloud,but

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downloadingandinstalling,letDuplicati

launch–FRQÀJXUDWLRQLV GRQH WKURXJK

a browserwindow.ClickAddbackupto

workyourwaythroughthebackup

wizard.You’repromptedtosetyour

encryptionlevel(thedefaultAES-256

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at thestart.

Next,selectyourdestination.Youcan

backuplocallyordirectlytoa rangeof

cloudproviders– GoogleDrive,

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chooseyourcloudprovider’slocal

folder,andletitsnativeappsyncthe

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folderstoupload,seta schedulefor

updatingthebackup,andchoosehow

manybackupstoretain.ClickSave,then

opttorunthebackupnow.A progress

metershowshowfarit’sgot– lookat

thethrottlebuttonif theuploading

impactsyourInternetperformance.

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selectRestore,andfollowthewizard

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“You don’t need to switch cloud

provider to get this kind of protection”

Strengthen your Cryptomator vault by using a
randomly generated password.

Windows 10

Protect your data

March 2020 | |^55