On-the-Fly Encryption similar to boxcryptor for Mac?

MitzEclipse · 04-29-12, 03:35 PM

Hi - i'm looking for a service/app similar to boxcryptor which will do on-the-fly encryption when moving data to the cloud - either for Google Drive or Dropbox using a macbook and an iPhone/iPad as a mobile device to access the data.

boxcryptor doesn't work for mac but seems to do exactly what I want to do... I'm a big fan of truecrypt but the only way I see it'll work is if I upload a truecrypt container rather than on-the-fly.

if you have any suggestions how i can use truecrypt please let me know as well!

Thanks in advance

Todd B. · 04-30-12, 10:46 PM

First of all, Dropbox is encrypted both in transit and in the storage in the cloud.

The caveats to the above are that Dropbox employees can decrypt your data (if necessary e.g. subpoenas), and, of course, the data stored locally is not encrypted.

I'm guessing you have more sensitive requirements though? So, if you want encryption that only you can access with a password, then something like TrueCrypt, or simply, an encrypted Disk Utility, disk image is what you want. So, why can't you just store the TrueCrypt file in the Dropbox folder? Each time you make a change to the mounted disk image, the TrueCrypt file changes will be uploaded.

The only issue I can see is that you might have to reupload the entire disk image file whenever you make a change. The solution to that is to use a Disk Utility sparse bundle disk image. This basically shards the disk image up into chunks so that backup (or, in this case, syncing software) only has to backup or copy the chunks that change, rather than the entire disk image. This is what Apple uses for File Vault so that Time Machine doesn't have to backup the entire File Vault image every time.

To get a sparse bundle disk image, open Disk Utility, go to File > New > Blank Disk Image, and choose Encryption: 256-bit AES, Image Format: sparse bundle disk image.

If neither of those solutions sounds acceptable to you, then you might want to check out Espionage. I have never used it, and had never heard of it before, but ran across it in my Google searching, and it looks like it might do what you're asking for:

http://www.taoeffect.com/espionage/

04-29-12, 03:35 PM	#1
MitzEclipse DVD Talk Gold Edition Join Date: Jun 1999 Location: Seattle, WA USA Posts: 2,547	On-the-Fly Encryption similar to boxcryptor for Mac? Hi - i'm looking for a service/app similar to boxcryptor which will do on-the-fly encryption when moving data to the cloud - either for Google Drive or Dropbox using a macbook and an iPhone/iPad as a mobile device to access the data. boxcryptor doesn't work for mac but seems to do exactly what I want to do... I'm a big fan of truecrypt but the only way I see it'll work is if I upload a truecrypt container rather than on-the-fly. if you have any suggestions how i can use truecrypt please let me know as well! Thanks in advance

04-30-12, 10:46 PM	#2
Todd B. DVD Talk Limited Edition Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 5,155	Re: On-the-Fly Encryption similar to boxcryptor for Mac? First of all, Dropbox is encrypted both in transit and in the storage in the cloud. The caveats to the above are that Dropbox employees can decrypt your data (if necessary e.g. subpoenas), and, of course, the data stored locally is not encrypted. I'm guessing you have more sensitive requirements though? So, if you want encryption that only you can access with a password, then something like TrueCrypt, or simply, an encrypted Disk Utility, disk image is what you want. So, why can't you just store the TrueCrypt file in the Dropbox folder? Each time you make a change to the mounted disk image, the TrueCrypt file changes will be uploaded. The only issue I can see is that you might have to reupload the entire disk image file whenever you make a change. The solution to that is to use a Disk Utility sparse bundle disk image. This basically shards the disk image up into chunks so that backup (or, in this case, syncing software) only has to backup or copy the chunks that change, rather than the entire disk image. This is what Apple uses for File Vault so that Time Machine doesn't have to backup the entire File Vault image every time. To get a sparse bundle disk image, open Disk Utility, go to File > New > Blank Disk Image, and choose Encryption: 256-bit AES, Image Format: sparse bundle disk image. If neither of those solutions sounds acceptable to you, then you might want to check out Espionage. I have never used it, and had never heard of it before, but ran across it in my Google searching, and it looks like it might do what you're asking for: http://www.taoeffect.com/espionage/