It can decrypt your data to make certain features work.

That allows it to do two important things: Dropbox holds the keys for the encrypted files. We can therefore presume that AES-256 is pretty secure.ĭropbox encrypts your data using industry standard encryption tools following the AES-256 standard, but the devil is in the detail. In order to crack AES-128 – which is less secure – it would take a supercomputer almost 14 billion years. AES stands for Advanced Encryption Standard, and the ‘256’ means that your data is encrypted using a 256-bit encryption key. Many commercial cloud storage providers offer encryption using the AES-256 algorithm.

Unlike a service such as Mega, Dropbox allows its employees to access and decrypt files, and files stored on the service are actually decrypted so that some of its more advanced functionality can exist. But for users, the more practical risk is the lack of encryption.

The company has recently been linked to the PRISM scandal the US National Security Agency had reportedly considered including it in its surveillance program. Dropbox cemented its place on our mobile devices with a range of capable apps, and developers have figured out ways to use it for all kinds of purposes: server backups, Google Docs sync and browser add-ons, to name just three.īut with Dropbox, there’s one challenge: privacy. With well over 175 million users, Dropbox was arguably the first cloud storage service that promoted mass adoption thanks to a referral program and an intuitive interface. A Basic Guide to Encryption For Dropbox Cloud Storageĭropbox is one of the most popular cloud storage services in the world.

How to use dropbox cloud storage