True Crypt
In all honesty I have never given the subject of encryption much thought and as such have never covered it in my articles. However the other day I got talking to a customer of mine who was looking at purchasing a USB Flash Pen Drive that was to replace one that he had previously which he had misplaced and unfortunately had a number of confidential documents on it.
USB Flash Drives aren't really like floppy discs of days gone by; with a floppy disc you were limited to the amount of data you could possibly lose if you misplaced it. A modern day 32GB drive would equate to the equivalent of almost 23,000 floppy discs worth of information precariously stored on a keyring sized device; this represents a huge amount of data which could easily end up in the wrong hands.
The need for encryption doesn't stop with flash pens; those that hold particularly sensitive information on their computers may like to encrypt a particular file or drive, so that if the machine is stolen the data contained within will be rendered essentially useless.
As a result of these valid concerns I have been testing encryption software with the intention that I could recommend a suitable application for Click readers in order that they can protect any confidential data. I settled on TrueCrypt which is an open source application that can be obtained via a tiny 2.5MB download free of charge from www.truecrypt.org.
Whilst TrueCrypt is incredibly easy to install, I found that things quickly start to get a little trickier once you actually start using the application and as such I would recommend skimming over the rather thick user guide before getting started. The application has been designed by people passionate about security and this is evident in the fact that you are actually given options as to the way you would like things encrypted and the strength of the cipher.
Other programs I experimented with didn't get you quite as involved but didn't give you such a high level of control. A favourite of mine is the 'Plausible Deniability' feature which lets you designate a dummy password which unlocks the drive/file but give a false reading that there was in fact nothing kept on it. The idea being that if you were to be held at gunpoint or perhaps more hazardously, forced by the wife, to reveal your secrets then you could easily get yourself off the hook.
There are many options as to how you wish to encrypt the data. Obviously you could completely encrypt the drive so a password is needed to access any files but in addition you can create a smaller encrypted virtual partition. Creating a encrypted partition means you can use the drive normally for files that you don't need the additional security and then store any confidential information in the smaller, encrypted section.
When using USB Flash Drives you have the choice of installing a little decrypting application so that you can then access files on any other PC/laptop; you simply plug the flash drive in to the computer, type your password and the files are then accessible and all set to be worked on.
As a word of warning, there is no workaround should you happen to lose your password; once your files are encrypted they are going to stay that way until the correct password is used to unlock them. You could attempt to circumvent the password by setting an application in motion to brute force crack the encryption but this could take hundreds, thousands or even millions of years depending on the level of protection employed. Don't say you haven't been warned!
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Article Tags:
cipher
,confidential data
,confidential files
,encrypted
,flash drives
,truecrypt
,usb flash drive
,valid concerns
,wrong hands
,open source
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