How secure is my backup data?
One of the primary concerns when backing up to a remote location is how secure your files are against prying eyes. Those eyes may be on your own computer; on your partner's computer; or while the data is in transit between the two.
Of course, Cucku assumes that you will choose a trusted backup partner who will not delete your backed up files and who will provide you with regular access to their PC for backups and restores. However, it is still of primary importance that even your backup partner cannot access your file data.
Cucku uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with a 256 bit key size to protect all of your files from the moment they are backed up locally. This level of protection makes it infeasible to decrypt your data without possession of the encryption key.
Your random encryption key is generated by the Cucku Server when you first create your Cucku account and is stored along with your other account details. When you run Cucku Backup for the first time on your PC you must provide your login credentials (username and password) and if they are deemed correct, your unique encryption key will be delivered to your machine. Delivery of the key to your machine is performed using HTTPS which is essentially HTTP over a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) - the standard for secure communications with a server over the internet.
Once on your machine, the key itself is encrypted using the Microsoft Windows Data Protection Application Programming Interface (DPAPI) that utilises your Windows User account credentials to protect the data from other Windows Users on the same machine.
For those users who wish to manage their own key, Cucku provides a means for you to generate, export and import keys of your own. These keys will never be sent to or stored by the Cucku Server but are instead maintained in secure storage on your PC using the DPAPI interface. If you choose to manage your own keys then it is imperative that you export the key to a file and store this separate from your PC in case of hard disk failure. Without your key you will not be able to restore from your backups.
Cucku uses Skype "Application to Application Streams" to transfer files to your partner. A connection is first established to your partner and then the data is transmitted. Skype's proprietary encryption is used during data transmission in addition to the AES encryption of your data. If, by some means, your file data was intercepted during transmission; and the hacker was able to break the Skype protection; then the data would still be useless without your private AES key. Your private encryption key is never transmitted to your partner.
When your file data reaches your partner's machine it will be stored in the same encrypted form as in your local backup. Your partner has no way to retrieve your private encryption key and therefore has no way to retrieve the contents of your files. When restoring files from your partner, the encrypted files are transferred to your local machine and only decrypted once they have been safely received.
Cucku Backup is Secure Backup.
Labels: security protection safe
posted by Mark on Wednesday, May 06, 2009
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