Re:md5sum (Score 1)

or sha1sum if you prefer. Automate in cron against a list of knowns.

eg: $ md5sum /home/wilbur/Documents/* > /home/wilbur/Docs.md5 $ md5sum -c /home/wilbur/Docs.md5

Definitely comparing md5/sha hashes against the backup files is the way to go. This will get every corrupted file regardless if the file has structural integrity.