Encryption & TLS

NGBackup protects data in transit and at rest.

Data at rest

• AES-CBC encryption of backup data, performed by the File Daemon so data leaves the client already encrypted. AES-128 is the default; set Pki Cipher = aes192 or Pki Cipher = aes256 on the File Daemon for longer keys (legacy blowfish/3des values are refused at startup). Each file’s payload carries a verifiable signature (RSA/PKCS#7) so a restore proves the data was not tampered with.
• PKI key management — each client has a master/data key pair; only holders of the private key can restore.
• Works together with deduplication and compression.

Data in transit

• TLS between every component (Director, Storage Daemon, File Daemon, Console).
• TLS-PSK (RFC 4279) keys the daemon-to-daemon sessions; TLS Authenticate provides mutual authentication.
• Deduplicated chunk traffic rides the same File Daemon to Storage Daemon session, so it is protected by that session’s TLS-PSK (or certificate TLS) channel.

All TLS and PKI directives are in the Director, Client and Storage references.

Caution

Keep your PKI private keys safe and backed up separately — without them, encrypted backups cannot be restored. That is the point of strong encryption, and also its responsibility.