Code to Encrypt Files Before Uploading Dropbox
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Is Dropbox Secure? 10 Ways To Make The File Sharing Service Safer To Utilize
*Post Updated for 2021! - Dropbox stores a vast amount of information for over half a billion people globally. Should yous trust it with your data and how tin you get in more than secure?
@daithaigilbert UPDATED: July 23, 2021
Like most internet services, Dropbox was created considering its founder — Drew Houston — couldn't find a solution to a problem which satisfied his needs.
In Houston's instance, while he was a educatee at MIT, he establish he consistently forgot the USB key containing his files on it and the file sharing services which were available in 2007 but didn't run into his needs, with problems like latency, buggy software and disability to handle big files among his major gripes.
And and then Houston created Dropbox, a simple service which allows users to store files online while also syncing their files to folders on their PCs, laptops and smartphones. Users can share files with others and the whole service was free — at to the lowest degree for those without the need to store a huge amount of data.
Unsurprisingly information technology was a huge success, and almost a decade subsequently it get-go launched Dropbox at present has over one-half a billion users globally with 1.ii billion files uploaded to the service every single day by individuals equally well equally enterprise customers.
Some of the numbers associated with Dropbox are staggering, giving an idea of the amount of data the company stores — and is responsible for keeping safety: 35 billion Microsoft Office files are stored on Dropbox; it supports xx different languages; and 4,000 file edits are made on Dropbox every single 2nd.
With such a huge trove of data, security and privacy are evidently very important for the company and its users.
To help united states understand how secure Dropbox's service is, allow'south outset expect at how the service operates.
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How Dropbox Works
Dropbox's promise to let you access your files wherever you are, and on whatsoever device you are using, is a hugely compelling selling point and it is all made possible cheers to the ability of cloud computing.
Accessing Dropbox is done in a couple of ways. The get-go is through the Dropbox website which allows you lot view, upload and download files as well as sharing them with your family unit, friends and co-workers. Dropbox too has software which yous tin install on pretty much all desktop, tablet and smartphone operating systems. This allows you to easily add together or remove files from your Dropbox account. When you identify a new file in the Dropbox binder, it is uploaded to the primal server and so synced with all the computers, tablets and smartphones that you have Dropbox installed on.
Even if your smartphone and PC are in the aforementioned room, any change made to your Dropbox folder is first sent to the server before all your other devices are updated.
How Does Information technology Do Security?
This is what Dropbox says nearly security:
"At Dropbox, the security of your data is our highest priority. Nosotros have a dedicated security squad using the best tools and engineering practices available to build and maintain Dropbox, and yous can rest assured that we've implemented multiple levels of security to protect and dorsum upwards your files."
Sounds great, but what does it mean in reality?
Well any time you accept to send any of your data over the internet and put information technology on a remote server you are automatically increasing your security risk.
To offset this, Dropbox encrypts all data in transit using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) between Dropbox apps and its servers. This is designed to create a secure tunnel protected by 128-bit or higher Avant-garde Encryption Standard (AES) encryption.
The Dropbox software you install on your PC or smartphone creates a secure connectedness with the Dropbox servers and therefore with the data encrypted there is no way for anyone to intercept and read that information while in transit.
When it reaches Dropbox'south servers, your information is encrypted with 256-bit AES, which is an manufacture recognised standard and which is almost incommunicable to fissure without the encryption central.
The information is then synced with all your other devices, with the data again being sent over an encrypted channel. In one case on your other devices the data is decrypted and stored on your PC or smartphone.
This all sounds pretty secure — and information technology is, to a betoken — simply there are yet some major concerns Dropbox's security.
Dropbox Security Issues
Despite all the talk to 256-scrap AES encryption and claims "the security of your data is our highest priority" the fact remains that Dropbox has the ability to decrypt all your files and can view them whenever information technology wants — particularly if any law enforcement bureau comes calling.
This leads to a number of security concerns for users. For example, if a Dropbox employee went rogue and decided to unlock all your secret files, they could — though information technology should exist pointed out that just a very limited number of employees have access to the encryption keys needed to do this.
The fact that Dropbox stores all the encryption keys for its users, means that potentially hackers volition be able to breach their systems and steal these very valuable pieces of information – though because Dropbox probable stores this in a very secure location the likelihood of this happening is once more small.
The real concern is that Dropbox can — if it wants to — disclose your information to a tertiary party. The company has already stated that should a police enforcement agency come calling with a subpoena, it will willingly decrypt your information and paw it over.
This has led to some high profile criticism of Dropbox. Former NSA contractor turned whistleblower Edward Snowden has not been shy about his disdain for Dropbox, calling information technology "hostile to privacy" and using users to "go rid of information technology."
"We're talking about encryption," Snowden said during a remote interview for the New Yorker Festival in 2014. "We're talking about dropping programs that are hostile to privacy. For example, Dropbox? Get rid of Dropbox, information technology doesn't back up encryption, it doesn't protect your private files."
Houston responded by saying that Dropbox could offer ameliorate encryption simply information technology is "a trade-off between usability/convenience and security. We offer people choice."
Houston said that if Dropbox implemented "aught cognition encryption" then services like search, admission to tertiary-party apps, seamless admission to data from mobile devices and other features would be impeded.
Privacy Problems
As well as issues around security, Dropbox's own Privacy Policy, highlights some issues users should be aware of:
- Data Retention– Users should be aware that when they are signing upwards, data like usernames, emails, addresses, telephone numbers, credit menu information and social network details are retained and stored past the company. This is common practice amidst near all online businesses but users should nevertheless be enlightened of it.
- Deleting Your Account Doesn't Necessarily Delete Your Data– While you can delete your business relationship, Dropbox reserves the correct to retain your data in order "to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes or enforce our agreements," according to the company's vague explanation. There may exist several reasons for needing to retain your data, including if your data is tied upwards in legal obligations or disputes, but Dropbox'due south policy wording leaves information technology open to interpretation — which is never a good thing when your data is involved.
- Sharing Personal Information– Dropbox makes information technology articulate that it will never sell your personal data, just information technology has no problem sharing it with others. If you sign into your Dropbox account through a 3rd-party app — say Facebook — then Dropbox will share your personal information with Facebook. Dropbox likewise shares your information with Amazon because information technology uses Amazon's S3 service for storage and is required to paw over your details. It will besides share your information if it thinks there is a danger to the company or its users, though it doesn't define what these situations might exist — only they are likely to be fraud or property theft. Finally, Dropbox volition as well mitt over your personal information if information technology is sold or acquired by another visitor.
- Dropbox Knows Where Y'all Are– It would exist very easy for Dropbox to observe out where its users are, simply past using GPS information from the devices the data is being sent from — merely the company says information technology doesn't do this equally this would suggest it was monitoring users' locations. What the visitor does practise however is use data embedded in the files users are uploading (EXIF data in photos and videos) as well as using your IP address to get a rough estimate of where in the world you are located .
On the whole, while Dropbox does claim to make security and privacy a priority, it is clear that if yous or your business organisation want to use Dropbox to hibernate sensitive and valuable data, there are risks involved.
Make Dropbox more secure in x-steps
Luckily there are some steps you tin accept to make your content more secure.
1. Enable Two-Footstep Verification
A hugely powerful tool to prevent unauthorised access to your accounts, two-step verification (or two-cistron hallmark every bit it is also known) is bachelor on near popular online services today, including the likes of Gmail and Facebook.
The features allows you to request a lawmaking be sent to your smartphone every time someone tries to access your account from a new device.
To plough on the feature in Dropbox, click on the drop down menu in the acme right-manus corner of your account's home page and hitting Settings.
This will open a new window and here you can hit the Security tab. You will see the status of 2-step verification on your account and if it is disabled, so hit the "click to enable" link to set it up.
You will be asked to re-enter your account password during the gear up up process, and and then you will be asked if you lot desire your codes sent to your phone equally a text message or to an app such as Google Authenticator.
You will then be asked to put in your phone number, and a code will be sent to make sure the organization is working. Dropbox so asks for a backup number in instance you lose your own phone. Finally Dropbox presents y'all with a list of x backup codes which y'all are meant to impress out or write down and keep in a safe place.
Now yous can click on the Enable Two-Footstep Verification button to finish the procedure.
ii. Delist Linked Devices
If you have been using Dropbox for a long fourth dimension and in that time you take changed PCs and smartphones several times, then you probably have a long list of linked devices — and it'due south very easy to come across them, when you final used them and to delist them.
In the same Security tab where yous enabled ii-stride verification above scroll downward to see the Devices list. Here you volition run across the names of the devices you connected your Dropbox account to, where you used them and when the terminal time your accessed Dropbox on the devices.
At the far correct of the list you will run across an 'x' which allows you lot to delink the device and make certain that if that device is used past anyone else they won't automatically be able to access your business relationship.
3. Bank check Web Sessions
If you are worried that your Dropbox account may have been compromised, then information technology is relatively piece of cake to check.
On the same Security page just above the list of linked devices, users tin view their electric current web sessions which shows which browsers are currently logged into your Dropbox account. This listing can put your heed to ease that no one else is logging into your business relationship and tin quickly show you where all the sessions are happening.
4. Manage Your Linked Apps
Every bit mentioned higher up, when you sign into Dropbox through a tertiary party app, the visitor shares your personal information with that app. Over time y'all may forget which apps you have given permission to access your Dropbox account and may take stopped using those apps altogether.
Towards the bottom of Dropbox's security settings page yous can view all the apps y'all take given permission to over the years and but as with de-listing trusted devices, you can hands revoke permission for whatsoever given app.
five. Set Upward Email Notifications
If two-footstep verification is not enough of a safety net for you, then Dropbox does offer y'all the pick of getting emails sent to your business relationship whenever something changes, including logins from new devices or browsers, whenever new apps are given access or when a meaning number of files are deleted.
Email notifications can be managed from the Profile panels of the Settings card.
half dozen. Utilise A VPN
While Dropbox may not exist able to track your location precisely, it tin can still get a general sense of what office of the world y'all are in and depending on how your IP accost is assigned could exist able to pinpoint your location pretty accurately.
There is all the same an easy way effectually this. A virtual private network or VPN is a network of connected computers which creates an encrypted tunnel that re-routes your browsing to a server on the VPN network rather than a public server. This ways Dropbox (or anyone else for that affair) won't exist able to see your existent IP accost. Check out our roundup of some of the best VPNs.
7. Employ Your Own Encryption
One way to circumvent Dropbox'southward power to snoop on your data is to get there before them and encrypt all your own information earlier it is uploaded to Dropbox, pregnant the company won't have the encryption keys needed to unlock your files.
Here's a video of how to use Boxcryptor with Dropbox.
Boxcryptor is a gratuitous service which integrates with Dropbox and works on all major desktop and mobile platforms to allow you encrypt data before it leaves your computer. The just trouble is that because Boxcryptor has a "zero knowledge" approach to encryption, if you forget your countersign, then the company won't exist able to retrieve your data.
Hither is a list of other costless services that can be used for cloud encryption.
8. Employ A Stiff Countersign Or Countersign Managing director
This is a piece of advice which is applicable to pretty much every single online service – use a stiff password. This means using a combination of upper and lower case letter, numbers and symbols while fugitive reusing the same combination of characters from other services. Dropbox suggests using "not-standard uPPercasing, artistic spelllling, personal slang, and non-obvious numbers and symbols (using $ for s or 0 for o is too obvious!)."
However trying to remember a lengthy and unique password is a challenge, particularly if you take a dissimilar one for every service. This is where password managers comes in. They volition remember all your passwords for you and you volition take to just remember a single password in lodge to access all your accounts.
Here is a comparison of some of the best password managers available at the moment, and an FAQ nearly using them.
9. Sync and Backup to Other Secure File Storage Services
Like Dropbox, other file storage systems have congenital-in security features. If yous back up your files held on Dropbox, using the automated processes built into another secure organisation strengthens data security, while providing connection protection.
Backups are a well-known data security necessity. Then, use a secure service to strengthen information protection. An example of how this facility can easily be gear up with another file organisation is the integration of Dropbox with Files.com. Connecting your accounts for these two services together allows you to sync the files on ane storage organization to a second service. The syncing procedure is automated, and then you lot get your fill-in service managed for you.
Syncing beyond the internet betwixt Dropbox and Files.com is conducted with FTP but protected past TLS. This gives you an FTPS connection. Cull a secondary service that also encrypts files at balance. Files.com applies AES-256 encryption to all of its user accounts.
To observe out more about how to connect a Files.com account to a Dropbox account for constant fill-in over a secure connection, come across How to connect to Dropbox using FTP server.
x. Endeavour a Dropbox Alternative
If all these options are even so not enough to convince you that Dropbox is secure, so in that location are alternatives available.
The one service Snowden has promoted in the past is called SpiderOak which basically promises nevertheless features equally Dropbox but with the added benefit of not having the power to come across what files are stored on its servers — claiming equally they do a "null knowledge cloud solution."
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Another option is Sync.com, a Canadian based service which calls itself "the nearly private, well-nigh secure deject storage service on the planet!"
On top of a zero cognition approach, passwords are never transmitted to Sync and the company does not store passwords or password hashes during account cosmos, or when y'all log in.
Due east-Box is a UK-based cloud storage company and dissimilar Dropbox — which hosts everything on Us-based servers — it has servers located in the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland which may be a pregnant benefit for UK or European companies. Due east-Box is entirely web-based meaning any device with an internet connexion and a web browser tin can access information technology.
Prototype credit: "Mysterious box" by Blondinrikard Fröberg licensed under CC BY 2.0
Source: https://www.comparitech.com/blog/cloud-online-backup/make-dropbox-more-secure/
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