Encryption from the Introduction to Linux by OnWorks

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karl@theserver:~> rsync -avz /home/karl/ /mnt/usbstore ‌

As usual, refer to the man pages for more.

9.4. Encryption

9.4.1. General remarks

9.4.1.1. Why should you encrypt data?

Encryption is synonym to secrecy. In the context of backups, encryption can be very useful, for instance if you need to leave your backed up data in a place where you can not control access, such as the server of your provider.

Apart from that, encryption can be applied to E-mails as well: normally, mail is not encrypted and it is often sent in the open over the netwerk or the Internet. If your message contains sensitive information, better encrypt it.

9.4.1.2. GNU Privacy Guard

On Linux systems you will find GnuPG, the GNU Privacy Guard, which is a suite of programs that are compatible with the PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) tools that are commercially available.