Encryption

For the first time in SQL Server, you can encrypt your backups using the native SQL Server backup tool. In SQL Server 2014, the backup tool supports several encryption algorithms, including AES 128, AES 192, AES 256, and Triple DES. You will need a certificate or an asymmetric key when taking encrypted backups. Obviously, there are a number of benefits to encrypting your SQL Server database backups, including securing the data in the database. This can also be very useful if you are using transparent data encryption (TDE) to protect your database's data files. Encryption is also supported using SQL Server Managed Backup to Microsoft Azure.

Creating an encrypted backup

To create an encrypted SQL Server backup, there are a few prerequisites that you need to ensure are set up on the SQL Server.

Creating a database master key for the master database

Creating the database master key is important because it is used to protect the private key certificate and the asymmetric keys that are...