Backup and Recovery Planning

[Neil]

Hi,

I am currently tying AxCrypt and am very impressed with its security and simplicity. I already encrypt my hard drives and so my primary use case for this software is to encrypt my sensitive files prior to backing them up with a cloud storage service. I am just about to buy the Premium version, however I need to be clear in my understanding of the following first…

I need a full backup and recovery plan for AxCrypt in the event that my PC dies and I need to buy another PC and restore files from the cloud, where those files were previously encrypted by Axcrypt.

I will certainly have my AxCrypt user ID and password, however do I need to backup my AxCrypt “Secret and Sharing key pair”? I can see there is an option to export this to a file and I could back that up somewhere appropriate, however the option to “Imprt” this file is greyed-out. Is import only possible with a new installation? How does this all work.

If I can document a robust backup and recovery plan for AxCrypt, then this product does everything I need!

 

Just one other thing and maybe a feature for the future if not available now? :-) ….

Could it not be possible to have a suite of keys for different use cases? e.g. I backup my files with one key however for some files I want to share with others, I use a dedicated key for that so as not to share my crown jewels!? Thanks.

 

Thanks so much for any advice,

Cheers!

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello Neil,

For recovery, all you need to know is your password. In a new computer, download AxCrypt (if you’d like to feel extra-extra secure, keep a copy of the installer around on a USB stick), install it and enter your email and password. You’re back to where you were.

Even if the AxCrypt servers are entirely unavailable for whatever reason, all you need is a copy of the software and to know the password.

The AxCrypt ID key pairs are for convenience when changing passwords and for sharing files with others. They are not required to open your own files. For that, all you need to know is the original password used when the file was first encrypted.

When you share encrypted files with others, you’re not sharing using your own key ( crown jewel ;-) ). You’re encrypting the unique encryption key for that particular file with the recipients public key part of their AxCrypt ID. You’re not sharing using your own AxCrypt ID. That’s for others to share with you – and vice verse.

[Neil]

Thanks for a perfect explanation.

The software suits my requirements perfectly.

Cheers!

[Author]

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