Keeping data secure at all times is crucial if you want to keep confidential files confidential. Any data that is stored on disk is at risk of being compromised in some way. It is important to learn ways to keep it as safe as possible and to encrypt it to ensure that if an attacker does gain access to files on your hard disk, then the encryption on the files will deter them from accessing your confidential data.
One program I use to encrypt my most confidential data files is called TrueCrypt. It is an open-source program that creates a virtual disk on your computer to access the files within the encrypted file and mounts it as an actual disk. When you dismount the disk, your files are kept securely within the encrypted file. It also has the ability to encrypt an entire partition and whole disk encryption. If you want to encrypt everything on your computer, it utilizes pre-boot authentication and allows you to encrypt the system partition as well.
The nice thing about the application is that you can put the program on a thumb drive and run the application from any PC without the need for installation. This allows you to carry the encrypted file with you anywhere and have access to your data while keeping it securely contained. There are a ton of great security features in the free download. Check it out and let me know what you think. It can be downloaded here: TrueCrypt.
August 6th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
I find it really useful, I’ve Fedora ‘n Windus on the same machine so I use a share encrypt partition (firefox profile too).
The last version by default disable the paging file and in my Windus Vista experience it was really problematic..