Creating Master Encryption Keys

You almost never need to make an encryption key more than once. If you already have an encryption key for "Medicals," you don't need to make it again.

1. On the left navigation panel, click the Create a new master key link. The New Master Encryption Key Wizard window opens.
2. Read the information on the window and click Next to continue. The Key properties window opens.
3. In the Encryption group field, select the encryption group from the drop-down list. For example, select Background Checks.

   VSys lists the information that will be encrypted to the right of the field and puts the name of the encryption group in the Key name field.

If you have already made a master encryption key for this type of data, VSys warns you that a master encryption key already exists and that the new key will encrypt all newly saved values with the new master encryption key, but that all existing values will still use the old encryption key. To read older data, you would need to use the older decryption keys and passphrases.

1. Click Next to continue. The Save keys page opens.
2. Enter the file names of two places to store the master decryption key.

They should be on a USB flash drive or other removable media, not on your hard drive or network drive.

Be sure that you do not lose the master decryption keys or any data encrypted with that key will be gone forever.

1. Click the Next button. The Finished! page opens.
2. Click the Finish button. VSys creates the new key. This may take a few minutes. When you have successfully created a master encryption key, the information for that key will show up on the Encryption key manager screen, under Master encryption keys. You should now create one or more user decryption keys.