Encrypting files and folders with EncFS

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Article from Issue 161/2014
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The EncFS virtual filesystem reduces the configuration overhead for data encryption on Linux.

Encryption is an important precaution that is nonetheless neglected by many users. EncFS offers a simple yet secure method for protecting data against unauthorized access with minimal configuration overhead.

Encryption is like backup: Everyone knows it is important, but any excuse will do not to set it up (yet). EncFS puts an end to excuses: With just one command, a non-root user can set up a directory that stores transparently encrypted data.

EncFS, which is released under the GPL, has been around for 10 years, and it is available for download from the repositories of all the popular distributions. As the name suggests, EncFS [1] is a filesystem – but not in the traditional sense that ext4 or XFS, are filesystems.

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