protecting harddisk
- Thread starter sebas
- Start date
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the harddisk contains a full backup of his work we have created for him.
He wants this backup for if my company gets burned to the ground or goes bankrupt.
As both things will never happen (i strongly hope) i want to protect my work on the disk with a password.
When something happens to my company (and i still hope it will never happen) he can get the password.
Another compay asked for a bachup before in the past and after he get his hands on the backup, we never seen hem back with any work again.
they gave my backup to a competitor company and now they are making money with my documents.
That aint fair at all.
He wants this backup for if my company gets burned to the ground or goes bankrupt.
As both things will never happen (i strongly hope) i want to protect my work on the disk with a password.
When something happens to my company (and i still hope it will never happen) he can get the password.
Another compay asked for a bachup before in the past and after he get his hands on the backup, we never seen hem back with any work again.
they gave my backup to a competitor company and now they are making money with my documents.
That aint fair at all.
ora
Registered
Definitely go for the encrypted disk image (dmg) file. With password protected stuffit files you can still see the contents if not open them (though you can stop this by making an archive file like a .tar then stuffing that).
Encrypted dmg files use aes which is pretty secure, and can easily be made read/write disks, so once mounted they work just like a normal drive, whereas with stuffit files you have to make a new one every time you want to change the contents. I use encrypted dmgs for a lot of sensitive documents, and it works great.
Alternatively you could get hold of PGP and use PGPdisks which are very secure indeed- though you only get it with the paid for version of PGP.
Encrypted dmg files use aes which is pretty secure, and can easily be made read/write disks, so once mounted they work just like a normal drive, whereas with stuffit files you have to make a new one every time you want to change the contents. I use encrypted dmgs for a lot of sensitive documents, and it works great.
Alternatively you could get hold of PGP and use PGPdisks which are very secure indeed- though you only get it with the paid for version of PGP.
lnoelstorr
Registered
Yeah, and get them to sign an NDA or something too, and sue them to hell if they steal your work.
Satcomer
In Geostationary Orbit
Maybe something like SharePoints would help you out.
TommyWillB
Registered
Dumb question...
Is he simply afraid that you are not doing reliable backups and he's trying to ensure you do?
Or is he trying to get a copy of the work?
In the first case, I'd burn a CD and give it to a friend. Then assure your customer you have an "off-site backup".
In the latter case I'd go the NDA route. Also make sure you've properly copyrighted your material.
Is he simply afraid that you are not doing reliable backups and he's trying to ensure you do?
Or is he trying to get a copy of the work?
In the first case, I'd burn a CD and give it to a friend. Then assure your customer you have an "off-site backup".
In the latter case I'd go the NDA route. Also make sure you've properly copyrighted your material.
ElDiabloConCaca
U.S.D.A. Prime
An NDA won't do much -- you'd have to prove that the data on the hard drive doesn't actually belong to the client, which will be difficult, since the client obviously paid for the design and production in the first place. It's a shady arena, and more than likely the client will win if it ever comes down to it -- believe me, I've been through it at a former company.
The best thing to do is charge the client a storage fee, then charge them another fee to "retrieve" the data and update it, if he/she so desires.
If all else fails, do this, and it'll be perfectly safe:
1. Move the client's files into a folder somewhere. If they're already in a folder specifically for that client, that's good enough.
2. Open Disk Utility and from the "Images" menu, choose "New" and then "Image from Folder" from the submenu.
3. Choose the client's folder.
4. In the "Convert Image" dialog that pops up, choose the FireWire drive as the destination and type a filename. Choose "read-only" for the "Image Format" and "AES-128" for the "Encryption."
5. Click "Save."
6. When the data is done copying, Disk Utility will prompt you to enter a password for the disk image. Choose one wisely.
7. There is no 7. You're done. The client now has all his data on a FireWire drive, accessible only to those with a FireWire-enabled Macintosh who know the password.
As far as I know, there is no way to crack open an encrypted DMG file like the one above, so no need to worry about competitors being able to get at the data.
The best thing to do is charge the client a storage fee, then charge them another fee to "retrieve" the data and update it, if he/she so desires.
If all else fails, do this, and it'll be perfectly safe:
1. Move the client's files into a folder somewhere. If they're already in a folder specifically for that client, that's good enough.
2. Open Disk Utility and from the "Images" menu, choose "New" and then "Image from Folder" from the submenu.
3. Choose the client's folder.
4. In the "Convert Image" dialog that pops up, choose the FireWire drive as the destination and type a filename. Choose "read-only" for the "Image Format" and "AES-128" for the "Encryption."
5. Click "Save."
6. When the data is done copying, Disk Utility will prompt you to enter a password for the disk image. Choose one wisely.
7. There is no 7. You're done. The client now has all his data on a FireWire drive, accessible only to those with a FireWire-enabled Macintosh who know the password.
As far as I know, there is no way to crack open an encrypted DMG file like the one above, so no need to worry about competitors being able to get at the data.