David.R.Gilson

Tip of the week – 22nd May 2009

May 22

How-To Guides David No Comments
encryption, privacy, security, truecrypt

Approximate reading time is 0 minutes

[Security Tip]

Today, I am going to recommend an open source application, which is available for Linux, Mac and Windows.

Truecrypt.

With Truecrypt you can either encrypt an entire drive (and now with version 5, even system drives can be encrypted) or you can create an encrypted “File Container”. A File Container is an encrypted file which Truecrypt mounts as a virtual drive on your computer.

If you recall yesterday’s tip of redirecting where “My Documents” in Windows is located, you could point it at a Truecrypt drive (either a real partition or a mounted file). So that when you’re not using your computer, everything you keep in “My Documents” is safely encrypted in case your computer falls into the wrong hands.

(Of course, you could encrypt your entire computer for even more security, but if you forget your password, you’re really hosed. The choice is yours.)