When most people think about encryption, they think about secret agents and spy’s and state secrets. Most people never think about using encryption for themselves. I don’t have anything to hide, is a common thought.
The question is, ‘Do you have something to hide?’ If all you do on your computer is to check email and Facebook, then you may not have anything to hide. Do you do online banking? Do you have your banks username and password saved so you can login to your account with one click? Do you have income taxs returns on your computer?
OK, I do online banking and I have tax returns on my computer. Yes there is that picture I would not want my boss to see, but my computer is password protected, so I am safe. Right? Not really! People forget their passwords all of the time. Computer professionals, computer repair technicians, thief’s, and yes even curious teenagers know how to get around the Windows login password. Its not that hard to find a way around the password.
Then there is the professional that has a customer database on their computer. If your laptop is lost or stolen, and that database becomes public, the results could bankrupt the company and destroy many life’s. Who wants to do businesses with a company that has security leaks and looses its databases.
So how do I encrypt? It sounds scary! Modern day encryption has been made easy through a number of programs that are available. (See the list after this article) You can encrypt a folder, a partition or even an entire system drive. The program I used when I first started to encrypt my data about 8 years ago, could only encrypt a folder or a partition. I encrypted an entire partition on my hard drive and put all of my data into it.
About 4 years ago, Truecrypt allowed for complete system encryption. You may ask why do you need to encrypt the entire operating system? Did you know that the web page of your bank account is saved on your hard drive for a period of time? Anyone that knows where to look for this can see your account balances without even logging in to your account. With the entire system encrypted, all of your history, temp files and swap page files are protected from snoopy eyes. I have been using full disk encryption ever since. You need it in the mortgage industry and many other business as well.
The most important thing to remember with encryption, is to pick a STRONG password. See my article on passwords HERE. I would recommend a password of at least 20+ characters. When I encrypt a complete system I have always used 40+ characters. Truecrypt only allows up to 80 characters, which I think is a little weak. But as I have said before, I am a proud password freak. Hopefully Truecrypt will change this soon.
Remember, Do Not Loose Your Password. Truecrypt clearly states that if you do loose your password, your data is lost. There is NO back door to their system. The good news is that NO ONE will get your data. Some of the other programs have a way to recover your data if you loose your password. Do your research if you want that feature.
One last thing to remember. Be sure to properly shut down your computer so that the hard drive or folder is re-encrypted. If you just close the lid on your laptop, the system will go to sleep and will not properly protect your data. If you do not have to put in your big long password when you reopen your computer, than your data is at risk.
As with all things in life, there are pluses and minuses in everything. I have always used Truecrypt because it has an excellent reputation of being one of the best programs on the market. There if no excuse for not having an encrypted hard drive as Truecrypt is a free download. Be sure to look into the other programs listed below, and please purchase from my links and support the information you are receiving.
Until next time, be safe.
Ron
Easy Folder Look – Ultimate Data Protection Tool
Protect the confidential files on your existing USB Flash Drive
Cypherix PE Data Security Software
docLock 2012
SanDisk Cruzer 64 GB USB drive with built in encryption