How to protect your folders and files by encrypting

Software that allows you to protect your folders and files by encrypting.

Please note that such if you lose your password, you won't be able to decrypt your files.

Another problem is that some programs link encrypted data to hardware or operating system. In such cases if your hardware or OS dies, you will lose all your encrypted data!

TrueCrypt - Free open-source disk encryption software for Windows Vista/XP, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Main Features:

• Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.
• Encrypts an entire partition or storage device such as USB flash drive or hard drive.
• Encrypts a partition or drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication).
• Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.
• Parallelization and pipelining allow data to be read and written as fast as if the drive was not encrypted.
• Provides plausible deniability, in case an adversary forces you to reveal the password:
• Hidden volume (steganography) and hidden operating system.
• Encryption algorithms: AES-256, Serpent, and Twofish. Mode of operation: XTS.

Advantages:

• Free
• Strong protection due to encryption
• Very powerful

Disadvantages:

• Password: Like with any other encryption software, if you lose your password, you won't be able to access your files.
• Full encryption means that it might take lots of time to decrypt. *

* Files are automatically being decrypted on the fly (in memory/RAM) while they are being read or copied from an encrypted TrueCrypt volume. There are no extra memory (RAM) requirements for TrueCrypt. Let's suppose that there is an .avi video file stored on a TrueCrypt volume (therefore, the video file is entirely encrypted). The user provides the correct password (and/or keyfile) and mounts (opens) the TrueCrypt volume. When the user double clicks the icon of the video file, the operating system launches the application associated with the file type – typically a media player. The media player then begins loading a small initial portion of the video file from the TrueCrypt-encrypted volume to RAM (memory) in order to play it. While the portion is being loaded, TrueCrypt is automatically decrypting it (in RAM). The decrypted portion of the video (stored in RAM) is then played by the media player. While this portion is being played, the media player begins loading next small portion of the video file from the TrueCrypt-encrypted volume to RAM (memory) and the process repeats. This process is called on-the-fly encryption/decryption and it works for all file types, not only for video files.

PGPdisk is an on-the-fly encryption (OTFE) system that allows one to create a virtual encrypted disk within a file.

Older versions for Windows NT were freeware (for example, bundled with PGP v6.0.2i; and with some of the CKT builds of PGP). These are still available for download, but no longer maintained. Today, PGP Virtual Disk is available as part of the PGP Desktop product family, running on Windows 2000/XP/Vista, and Mac OS X.

Advantages:

• Free
• Strong protection due to encryption
• Very powerful

Disadvantages:

• Password: Like with any other encryption software, if you lose your password, you won't be able to access your files.
• Full encryption means that it might take lots of time to decrypt. *

Very creative content, some of the best content I have seen today. Keep up the great work.

[avkreech]

these are free and yet time consuming.. are there any thing that we can use in a dash?

Originally Posted by avkreech

these are free and yet time consuming.. are there any thing that we can use in a dash?

If you don't need strong protection, you can use faster methods:
- How to hide folders without encrypting
- Video Padlock - encrypt your videos and play them back instantly
- ...

[avkreech]

thank you for the link Stream Recorder.. will reconsider the ones you've mentioned above and compare which one will fit my needs. thanks