Data Encryption

Insight & Feedback
1

Hi, guys!

I use Nextcloud on my NAS.

And I’m currently lending 4TB of disk space to a friend.

Since I’m responsible for the data on my storage device, I’m thinking about encrypting it.

Given that my NAS uses BTRFS, can I encrypt his data?

If so, how?

Of course, he needs to be able to access it freely and without any trouble.

Respectfully.

Best regards.

Dany.

2

Whatever the kind of filsesystem you’re using, this is a Nextcloud question and you can indeed encrypt things but there are two different cases :

  • You have ultra sensitive data and might want to set up server side encryption (SSE) ;
  • Or you just need to protect some folders so that only you and/or those you trust can access this content, then you need to enable the end-to-end encryption module (E2EE).

Everything is well explained here.

PS : from your question I think what you want is E2EE but you should read the docs to be absolutely certain of it :slight_smile:

3

thanks @jme69 .
i 've just installed the E2EE security protocol .
like i got blocked with my own cloudflare security , i wait for tomorrow to go further .

4

No idea what cloudflare is thinking, maybe they should mind their own business… But anyway, you really need to take care about two things before encrypting anything :

  • Make a backup of all your data before activating the extension ;
  • Initialize E2EE consistently across all your connected devices with the same mnemonic.
5

Yes, I completely agree (the same goes for Cloudflare).

Since I’ve set up fairly restrictive security protocols to prevent any malicious activity on my sites, I often get flagged. All it takes is a slightly higher connection volume, and boom! “Rate limited.”

Anyway, back to Nextcloud.

I figured out how to enable the E2EE protocol since it wasn’t enabled by default.

I suggested two solutions to my colleague, since I’m responsible for what I host on my NAS:

  • Either E2EE with Nextcloud

  • Or Cryptomanor (suggested by Claude AI), which would also use Nextcloud for storage but would encrypt the data independently on his computer before transferring it (at least, that’s what I understood).

Unfortunately, in either case, if he loses his key, he loses everything.

And he’s not ready for that yet—he’s still thinking it over.

6

Right on point !! But, hopefully, Bitwarden/Vaultwarden is your best friend for that :smiley: