Encrypt backups in the cloud

You’ve encrypted the files on your hard drive, but what about your backups? By default, backup tools store your files unencrypted on a local or network drive, which is fine if the drives have been encrypted with VeraCrypt or BitLocker, but what if you just want the backups to be encrypted; perhaps you’d like to store them securely in the cloud?

The answer lies with the free and open-source backup tool Duplicati, currently in beta ( www.

duplicati.com). This has been engineered like Cryptomator for the cloud, but specialises in file-based backups. After downloading and installing, let Duplicati launch – configuration is done through a browser window. Click Add backup to work your way through the backup wizard. You’re prompted to set your encryption level (the default AES-256 is more than adequate) and passphrase at the start.

Next, select your destination. You can back up locally or directly to a range of cloud providers – Google Drive, OneDrive (choose the v2 option), Dropbox, and so on). If yours isn’t listed, choose your cloud provider’s local folder, and let its native app sync the backup files after it’s been taken.

From here, select which files and folders to upload, set a schedule for updating the backup, and choose how many backups to retain. Click Save, then opt to run the backup now. A progress meter shows how far it’s got – look at the throttle button if the uploading impacts your Internet performance.

When it comes to recovering files, select Restore, and follow the wizard – you can recover individual files as well as older versions of a file.