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That's understandable, since the point of asymmetric encryption is communication. But people can use symmetric encryption when it's about your own data security
by bad_user 10y ago
That's understandable, since the point of asymmetric encryption is communication. But people can use symmetric encryption when it's about your own data security (i.e. you encrypt it, you decrypt it).
If you're using encryption to keep your data safe (e.g. local files, full disk encryption), then you don't actually need asymmetric encryption.
- hendzen 10y agoAgreed. However, the kind of mass surveillance people are worried about isn't really concerned with personal data at rest. That data already requires targeted surveillance to get at. Additionally... unless you generated all the bytes you are encrypting yourself without transmitting them over a network at any time... e.g. video/pictures you took yourself and then stored to your own encrypted disk, your data could be compromised by quantum-breakable encrypted communication protocols at the time of transmission. I would wager that most data worth surveilling goes over the network at some point using TLS.
- rocqua 10y agoThere is still tremendous value in symmetric encryption for off-site storage, especially cloud-based storage. This allows storage to be off-loaded wherever without needing the storage location to be trusted. All that needs to be stored locally is the key. Done right, this means quantum won't get you access to dropbox-like stuff. (Dropbox itself probably doesn't work like that, it'll store the symmetric keys server side somehow.)
- mikepurvis 10y agoDropbox de-duplicates your files with other users who have the same ones, and are capable of serving them all to you through a web site. There's no encryption there at all, except TLS in transit.
- smaddox 10y agoFound that hard to believe, so I googled it. Not positive this is a trustworthy source, but it sounds like Dropbox does use encryption for files at rest and in motion: https://www.virtru.com/blog/dropbox-encryption/ https://www.virtru.com/blog/dropbox-encryption/
- Laforet 10y agoDropbox is known to have intergration with PhotoDNA, a state program that matches file signature with a database of known illicit images. This would be impossible if the encryption used is irreversible and as far as I know dropbox never claimed otherwise.
- smaddox 10y agoI'm not claiming it is end-to-end, nor did I expect it to be, but perhaps some people would assume that. I thought you were claiming they don't use encryption at all.
- mikepurvis 10y agoIt's effectively nothing when Dropbox themselves have access to all your files whenever they want.
- jacquesm 10y agoAnd whoever hacks dropbox, yours or all of them.
- doubleunplussed 10y agoCouldn't dropbox hash the images on the client, and upload the encrypted images as well as the hash? No need to upload an unencrypted file to do matching.
- eru 10y ago
- eru 10y agoEven for your own data, asymmetric encryption can be useful. Eg think you want to encrypt your logs: with asymmetric encryption you can store the public keys on all your servers, encrypt your logs as you generated them and forget the plain text as soon as possible. You keep your private key hidden away on a secure server, and only use it when you actually want to look at your logs (which doesn't happen all that often).