Lately, I've been working on an application. I don't usually make Windows applications, but I couldn't find a program to do what I needed so...I made one myself!
[U][B]What is it?[/B][/U]
BitBak is an automated offsite encrypted Dropbox backup which utilizes TrueCrypt volumes to keep your data secured while storing it on the cloud. The goal is to protect your work from prying eyes and data loss at the same time by automatically encrypting then backing up your files to existing free cloud services. It's not unlike creating a Bash/Batch script to run backups each week, only this is designed for documents you don't want other people seeing. That could be anything from writing a private game engine you intend to sell, to writing a dissertation. You want a place where you know your files aren't going to go bye-bye, and a place where no one can read them.
At this point, I should make it clear why I use Dropbox this. Dropbox only syncs changed blocks, rather than the entire volume, so adding small files to your volume won't cost you a few hours of uploading. I should also point out that dynamic sized volumes will prevent a huge upload when you first create it. Of course, both of these choices are entirely up to you.
[B][U]How does it work?[/U][/B]
Very simply, it mounts a TrueCrypt volume, looks through all the folders you specify to backup, zips them up, copies them to the mounted volume, and unmounts again. In between this process, excess old backups are removed as per your specification. You can specify the interval at which to run, or you can silently run the program from the Windows Task Manager (just supply the argument "runsilent") to allow total flexibility of when to run.
[B][U]Features[/U][/B]
Automated interval-timed or manual backups to an encrypted TrueCrypt volume on Dropbox
Multi-directory backups
Encrypted key storage for TrueCrypt volume key (so that the volume can be securely mounted and unmounted automatically)
Old backup archives automatically deleted as per your settings
Can be run silently via Windows Task Scheduler or batch script by adding argument “runsilent”
[U][B]Instructions[/B][/U]
1. Create a new TrueCrypt volume. Follow the steps in TrueCrypt to create an encrypted file container (‘standard TrueCrypt volume’) inside your Dropbox folder (or anywhere, but Dropbox works best as syncing doesn't require the entire volume to be uploaded)
[IMG]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/10518681/Screenshots/2013-07-27_18-51-48.png[/IMG]
2. Open Options->Settings to let BitBak know where your TrueCrypt volume resides, what its password is, to add directories to the backup process, and to configure a few preferences. Your TrueCrypt volume password is encrypted before storing using Windows DPAPI.
[IMG]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/10518681/Screenshots/2013-07-27_19-00-30.png[/IMG]
3. Run a backup from the main screen. That’s all! You should be able to see all the backups in your TrueCrypt volume when you next mount it through TrueCrypt.
[IMG]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/10518681/Screenshots/2013-07-27_19-09-33.png[/IMG]
[U][B]Try it out![/B][/U]
Download and sourcecode can be found here:
[url]http://bitnode.co.uk/bitbak-offsite-encrypted-dropbox-backup/#bitbakdownload[/url]
If you get a malware warning, that's because I've requested administrator privileges. If you don't trust me, read through the source code - it's only a few hundred lines!
There you have it. Quite a simple application, given that TrueCrypt and Dropbox do most of the legwork, but the combination is quite powerful. I hope you find it useful, any feedback is appreciated!
Cheers
This looks like something handy, if only I knew what TrueCrypt was
[editline]27th July 2013[/editline]
Oh, I see, open-source encryption. But I guess this is mostly useful for people who have paid Dropbox accounts (or lots of referrals).
Still looks like something I'll end up using in the future.
[QUOTE=BFG9000;41618359]This looks like something handy, if only I knew what TrueCrypt was
[editline]27th July 2013[/editline]
Oh, I see, open-source encryption. But I guess this is mostly useful for people who have paid Dropbox accounts.[/QUOTE]
TrueCrypt is a very useful application - it lets you create virtual encrypted volumes, stored as files, which can be mounted and operate like a hard drive. It is within these volumes that you can store any files you would like to be encrypted. BitBak just takes all the directories you want to backup, mounts the virtual encrypted drive, chucks them into the drive, and unmounts it. At this point, the TrueCrypt file is detected as "changed" by Dropbox, which then goes and syncs to the cloud. BitBak handles the automation and scheduling for you, which ties Dropbox and TrueCrypt
I also made something similar but it works with RAR files for compression and encryption and Gmail for storage. Also it has filters to eliminate unnecessary files. If you guys want I can open source it too :smile:
[QUOTE=BFG9000;41618359]
Oh, I see, open-source encryption. But I guess this is mostly useful for people who have paid Dropbox accounts (or lots of referrals).
[/QUOTE]
Well, assuming your source code should only be small in terms of file size, it's generally useful for development (or documents and other small files)
[QUOTE=Trumple;41618648]Well, assuming your source code should only be small in terms of file size, it's generally useful for development (or documents and other small files)[/QUOTE]
Well suppose you have um, other things to um, encrypt.
:3
[QUOTE=BFG9000;41618739]Well suppose you have um, other things to um, encrypt.
:3[/QUOTE]
It's none of my business what you choose to store in there :v:
Regardless of what types of files you wish to store, large or small, I'd recommend a dynamic TrueCrypt volume size, so it grows as you add stuff. That avoids a huge upload, apart from when you add huge items. It will be automatically compressed, either way!
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