[SOLVED] Privacy warning when I installed BackInTime from the terminal

Gregg Bell · 06-11-2015, 12:35 AM

Someone here gave me CLI commands to install BackInTime. I installed it on one Xubuntu 15.04 computer with no issues. Same with another computer (Linux Mint 17.1), but when I went to install it on another Xubuntu 15.04 computer I got this screenshot (see attachment) The second attachment is what happened in the terminal.

So what's the significance of the warning? Don't use BackInTime to backup anything sensitive? Or should I ignore it? Something in between?

And when using BackInTime on this computer with the warning I have to choose what "mode" to use. The choices are:

local
local encrypted
SSH
SSH encrypted

I don't really know what those signify or which would be the best choice.

And one last thing. I noticed that when I used BackInTime on the computer with the warning that there were lock icons over all the files that were saved in the BackInTime "snapshot." The files all opened properly though. I just wondered why the lock icons were there.

Thanks.

Habitual · 06-11-2015, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

[LIST]The choices are:

local
local encrypted
SSH
SSH encrypted

I don't really know what those signify or which would be the best choice.

Greg:
I would suggest local.
see the changelog

I guess you can run that thing as root, and that may be why locks are visible.
How did you "open" these files?

Gregg Bell · 06-11-2015, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Habitual

Greg:
I would suggest local.
see the changelog

I guess you can run that thing as root, and that may be why locks are visible.
How did you "open" these files?

Thanks Habitual. I did choose the "local" choice and it backed things up fine. And I did not run backintime as root. It was from its GUI. And I didn't know what to make of that changelog as it pertained to my questions. I can open the files normally. Just (eg. .odt file) right click on the file and I'm presented with options (eg. LibreWriter for the .odt file). It opens normal. And any idea about that privacy warning? Do I need to worry about that? Thanks.

Habitual · 06-12-2015, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

And any idea about that privacy warning? Do I need to worry about that? Thanks.

I wouldn't. To me it is an merely a warning about (a) possible vuln(s) in encfs.

Gregg Bell · 06-12-2015, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Habitual

I wouldn't. To me it is an merely a warning about (a) possible vuln(s) in encfs.

Thanks Habitual. I appreciate it.

Habitual · 06-13-2015, 08:17 AM

Gregg:
You are very welcome.

John

S0M30N3 · 06-13-2015, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

So what's the significance of the warning? Don't use BackInTime to backup anything sensitive? Or should I ignore it? Something in between?

This warning is not from BackInTime but from encfs which is an optional (recommended) dependency. You don't need to install it, if you don't want to create encrypted snapshots (see below). Like the message said, encfs got a paid audit which found some possible types of attacks. So the encryption should be seen as Not Secure Anymore. (it's still fine to stop your little brother at spying on you ;-) )

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

And when using BackInTime on this computer with the warning I have to choose what "mode" to use. The choices are:

local
local encrypted
SSH
SSH encrypted

I don't really know what those signify or which would be the best choice.

This depends on where you want to store your snapshots and if you want them encrypted. If you have a local (maybe external) drive choose 'Local' or 'Local encrypted'. If you have a NAS choose 'SSH' or 'SSH encrypted'. For more information take a look at 'man backintime'

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

And one last thing. I noticed that when I used BackInTime on the computer with the warning that there were lock icons over all the files that were saved in the BackInTime "snapshot." The files all opened properly though. I just wondered why the lock icons were there.

BIT stores permissions of files inside a separate file and changes permissions of all files in snapshots to be read-only. So you can't accidentally change or remove those files in the snapshots. After restore all permissions are restored as well. The locker icon only indicate that the file is read-only.

Regards,
Germar, BIT-Dev-Team

Gregg Bell · 06-14-2015, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S0M30N3

This warning is not from BackInTime but from encfs which is an optional (recommended) dependency. You don't need to install it, if you don't want to create encrypted snapshots (see below). Like the message said, encfs got a paid audit which found some possible types of attacks. So the encryption should be seen as Not Secure Anymore. (it's still fine to stop your little brother at spying on you ;-) )

This depends on where you want to store your snapshots and if you want them encrypted. If you have a local (maybe external) drive choose 'Local' or 'Local encrypted'. If you have a NAS choose 'SSH' or 'SSH encrypted'. For more information take a look at 'man backintime'

BIT stores permissions of files inside a separate file and changes permissions of all files in snapshots to be read-only. So you can't accidentally change or remove those files in the snapshots. After restore all permissions are restored as well. The locker icon only indicate that the file is read-only.

Regards,
Germar, BIT-Dev-Team

Germar, Great! I feel much more comfortable about BIT thanks to your explanation. Thank you!