Tips for managing keys and encrypted files

In order to encrypt or decrypt files, EAEScrypt uses symmetric keys.

A key is a sequence of characters that is known only to who will encrypt or decrypt the file. It is symmetric because the same key used to encrypt the file should be used to decrypt it. Without this key it is virtually impossible to recover the original file from the encrypted archive. The key is the one that provides information security.

To properly and securely manage both your keys and your encrypted files, you should take the following precautions:

Handle the keys with extremely care

Having the key is the only way you can recover an encrypted file. This is exactly why the encryption is made for. If you, for whatever reason, lose a key, you can no longer recover any file encrypted with that key. The data in these files will be permanently lost.

That's why whenever you want to either remove a key from the Keys Database or delete a key file, you must assure that you either have this key stored safely somewhere else, or that you will no longer need this key.

Don't keep the keys at the same place of your encrypted files

Keeping the keys on the same computer where your encrypted files are is the same as locking a padlock and leaving the key in it. Create the habit of always delete the keys from the Keys Database and keep key files on external media, not on your computer.

If you receive a key via email, be sure to delete it from the inbox (as well as the trash) after you get that key. This is especially important if you keep your emails on an external server, or (worse) in a webmail server. By the way, e-mailing is not a safe method of exchange keys. To recover your encrypted files an attacker doesn't need to guess the key, but only your e-mail password.

Allways remove key files with a secure removable tool

There are tools that can recover data from a file, even if it has been deleted from the HD. These tools work based on the fact that removing a file is made only by removing its reference from the file system. The data of the file still remains in the HD.

EAESCrypt provides a safe method for removing key files. Refer to the secrion Securely deleting a file for more details about securely removing a file.

The safe removal is already used internally by EAESCrypt for removing the keys from the Keys Database (see Removing a key).

Rename your encrypted files

The name of a file or a folder can provide valuable information about it. When you encrypt either a file or a folder, EAESCrypt keeps its original name, only including the suffix ".eaes". As encrypted files usually contain sensitive data, it is always good to protect its identity by hiding its original name.

You can rename the encrypted file to another name keeping the suffix ".eaes" to preserve its identity. EAESCrypt takes care of decrypting the files with their original name, even if the encrypted file name has been changed.