Encrypt Your Time Machine Backup Disks For Extra Security [OS X Tips]

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Encrypt Time Machine Backups

Backing up your Mac via Time Machine is highly recommended, and super easy to do, as well. It’s really the only backup system I’ve ever found myself using on a regular basis, because it’s so simple to use and easy to set up. All you need to do is connect any USB drive to your Mac, head to the Time Machine preferences, and select that USB drive as your Time Machine backup. Mac OS X does the rest.

I was thinking, though, that since I back up my Macbook Air onto a 128 GB flash drive, it’s even more possible than ever that someone might get a hold of the drive and then be able to have all my backed up stuff on it. That’s not a huge deal for me, as I don’t keep much on the Macbook Air in terms of private stuff, but if I did, I’d want to keep those files extra secure.

Encryption could be the answer, and Mac OS X Mountain Lion makes it easy.

To encrypt any Time Machine backup, simply head into the System Preferences with a click, and then click on the Time Machine icon there to open the preference pane. Now, when you select the external drive you want to back up to, be sure to click on the checkbox next to Encrypt backups, at the bottom. Then click on Use Disk, and let Time Machine do its thing.

As I don’t have a Time Capsule to test here, I’m unable to know for sure whether you can encrypt to that Time Machine system via Wi-Fi or local area network. If you’ve done this, leave me a note below.

You can only select disk encryption for Time Machine backups when you initially set the disk up for use with Time Machine, so if you have a large backup already, be warned that you’ll need to erase it all and start from scratch with Time Machine.

Via: LifeHacker

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