path: root/report/prologue/abstract.tex

\begin{abstractpage}\label{combox-abstract}
  File storage providers on the Internet have made it non-trivial for
  individuals to store their personal files online. At the same time,
  there has been revelations about the existence of a billion dollar
  surveillance industry\cite{website:wikileaks-spyfiles} that is
  building and selling tools to governments and dictatorships to snoop
  on its own citizens. In a world which is fast becoming Orwellian,
  storing personal files on storage provided by file storage providers
  is not even an option for some individuals. In the past, there have
  been separate efforts to come up with a solution to allow
  individuals to use storage space provided by file storage providers
  in a way that it made it impossible for file storage providers or
  ``third parties'' to access the user' files. combox is one such
  effort, it allows an individual to store their personal files on the
  storage provided by Google Drive and Dropbox in such a way that only
  part of each file (in encrypted form) is stored in Google
  Drive/Dropbox. combox is a python package compatible with GNU/Linux
  and OS X platforms. This report contains an overview of combox --
  what it is, how it was developed and tested; explains how combox is
  different from Vollmar's Combo-Box\cite{vollmar-combo-box}; reviews
  projects similar to combox that help computer users to securely
  store personal files on storage provided by file storage providers;
  lastly, enlists things that can be done to improve combox.
\end{abstractpage}