Safest and most secure way for backing up private data

Question

Here is what happened, I first collected my data into one folder,tar'd it, encrypted it with gpg, put it in truecrypt container, and after that started to copy the container to another place, but before copying got to the halfway mark:

Input/output error

so I opened the container and started to copy gpg files out again, but there was one file that didn't finish coping, so I started to decrypt it, but there was a problem down there.

rezx@rezx-desktop:/media/truecrypt8$ gpg Backup4

gpg: CAMELLIA256 encrypted data

gpg: gpg-agent is not available in this session

gpg: encrypted with 1 passphrase

gpg: Backup4: unknown suffix

Enter new filename [Backup4]: Backup4.tar

gpg: Backup4: read error: Input/output error

gpg: Problem reading source (257056845 bytes remaining)

gpg: handle plaintext failed: file read error

gpg: mdc_packet with invalid encoding

gpg: decryption failed: invalid packet

uioiu@uioiu-desktop:/media/truecrypt8$

I don't want to get back what has been lost up there, as I still hve unencrypt copy, but such a problem gets me back to my first question "what is the safest & most secure way to back up my data?" and some other questions.

1. If the .gpg file was corrupted shouldn't it be encrypted by truecrypt. If yes, how come I can't copy the container.

2. How safe is a tar archive and a gpg encrypted file for long term archives and big files because if something bad happened, it may be with tar archive or with gpg as it's not with truecrypt, the rest of file is ok.

3. What is the safest and most secure way to archive a backup for my private data. I can't handle losing it because there would be some movies/pictures that can't be taken again, since funny/embarrassing/happy/sad moments don't happen twice. I don't have a time machine to go back and film baby first step/word, so it has to be safe and secure. There is some poetry/thoughts/films/pictures/???/ that I didn't want any stranger to see, but I like to watch it with who i want family/friends.

Answer 1

In general, you don't need that much encryption. TrueCrypt provides enought security. Simply create a truecrypt volume and put all your sensitive files inside it.

To get best protection, use the passphrase + keyfile combination. And make sure to make backups: backup of the truecrypt container and of the keyfile, too. The more important the files are, the more you should make backups, perhaps some of them in internet, with those cloud-storage-services.

To share something with someone: put the file inside a .zip file, password protect, and give it to the person you want, with the password. But remember that the person might give a copy of the file to anyone.