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8. Using Standard Edition in Spectra T50 Libraries
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Protecting Keys
Data cannot be recovered without the encryption key used to encrypt the data, so protecting
encryption keys is extremely important to data decryption and recovery.
Protect encryption keys by:
• Making copies of every key through Key Export
• Storing the keys in a secure location
• Tracking the location of the keys and the passwords required to import them
Protect your keys by making sure that copies of the keys reside elsewhere. Two methods are
available for key export: copying the encrypted key to a USB device, and emailing an
encrypted version of the key as an attachment to a user who has been configured as a mail
user through the library.
Best practices recommend storing keys offsite in a location other than the site used for media
storage. Confirm that the key is stored correctly on the USB device or has been received by the
intended recipient before deleting the key from your system. If you delete the key, you must
import the key to decrypt the data. Importing keys is described in
Importing Keys
on page 95.
You may want to make two copies of a key, storing each in a secure location. Note the location
of these keys, so that you can easily find the key when you need to restore or delete data.