Comments on: Encryption (Part 3): How to Keep Secret Files in the Cloud

By: thatguyivan

thatguyivan — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 12:15:55 +0000

One comment on keeses comment, in Windows there is no iDisk application to install in ordder to connect to iDisk from Windows. Instead you can do it mapping a network drive (a la WebDAV). Details are in support.apple.com/kb/HT3264. If I’m not mistaken, the disadvantage of using TrueCrypt+iDisk is having to upload the full container every time.

By: thatguyivan

thatguyivan — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 12:04:32 +0000

Hi Barton, thanks for another great post on some basic but effective security tips. I’m using the TrueCrypt+Dropbox solution as you propose with the minor change of having a fixed size for the volume instead of a variable one. If you do it like this the file size and the modification date won’t change so Dropbox won’t update changes on the file unless you go to settings > preferences and untick the option windows > preserve modification timestamp of file containers.

By: Barton Gellman

Barton Gellman — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:26:00 +0000

I don’t know anything about iDisk and have only general familiarity with MobileMe. Can you use this combo to sync between Macs automatically, and to access your files from a borrowed computer? Are the files encrypted on MobileMe (I know they are inside FileVault) or does security rely on password protection for the account?
In any case, TrueCrypt and DropBox both work on Mac and Linux as well as Windows — and you can have access to the same online encrypted data from all three platforms.

By: keeses

keeses — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 02:35:40 +0000

seems like FileVault combined with iDisk that have been part of Mac OS X and MobileMe for years. MobileMe costs money and DropBox is free for the most part.