Should i encrypt my backups

Security is perhaps an obvious reason to start encrypting your backups. While common mishaps like losing your device can be disastrous, there are other threats. Identity theft is a serious, life-changing crime. Victims often endure weeks of stressful maneuvering, trying to find out how much of their personal information was compromised. Then, they must attempt to put the pieces of their life back together again, which can take months or even years.

Hint: Start with the Federal Trade Commission. Nowadays our smartphones are uniquely important to us because they are smart; they contain a data-rich blueprint of our lives. Facebook and other social media tools are one common element for users. For example, do you also often browse to Amazon from your phone to make a quick purchase? What about other apps? All of these touches reveal more about you through the data you share while simply living your digital life.

Meanwhile, if you use your iPhone or iPad for work, encrypted backup is even more essential and might even be mandated by your company. Sensitive data that falls into the wrong hands can lead to all kinds of mayhem.

Acronis True Image also supports Android phones. Convenience is another reason encrypted backup is used. If you are encrypting the data on your Mac with File Vault, then you should encrypt the data on your backup too.

Otherwise it is like having two doors to your house, one with a secure lock and the other with no lock at all. What if someone were to get a hold of your Time Machine drive?

All of your data would be there, and all it would take to access it would be to connect the drive to a Mac. You are thinking of compression. Encryption takes your data and saves it bit-for-bit but securing it so you need a key to decrypt it to get to those bits. But every bit of data is there.

Compression is when a file is saved in a way to make it smaller. Encrypting your computer with File Vault and encrypting your backup are two different things. And if you pick the right tool for encrypting them there, the backup will be automatically encrypted. You only need to encrypt legal documents, tax forms, and anything else that requires real security. Consider protecting your sensitive files with TrueCrypt.

Instead, create an encrypted TrueCrypt volume. Only an administrator or other trusted user should have the password for a network disk used for Time Machine backups. Anyone who knows the password can access any data backed up to the disk, regardless of which user owns the data.

For security when backing up to a Time Capsule, an administrator can create individual accounts on the Time Capsule. Each account has its own network volume and password.