• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

recommend encryption software?

D

Davegod

Platinum Member
I've got an external HDD which I want to put my personal files on.

I'm not paranoid about the NSA, I don't have anyone else's data so I don't need to comply with any regulations or anything, just protect myself from identity theft etc.

I'll save a copy of the most important stuff into a 7zip file or whatever on a usb stick to be physically locked away but no doubt I'll end up only doing this very occasionally so reliability is important to me.

I don't want anything that will always be running in the background using lots of resources as if I don't have anything else to do with my computer except encrypt data. I don't like cheap, flashy, natty interfaces either - like the typical gimmicky crap that comes with motherboards for overclocking.

Not sure if I want to go the full-disk encryption route or just individual files. The former has appeal though I might use the drive to swap files with friends/family and they are rather less conscientious computer users so I don't want to be decrypting the whole drive on their computer.

The drive came with Samsung Drive Manager. I also have a Western Digital internal and OCZ SSD, one or both probably offer something to owners. Hopefully there's also some open source free options.

Any recommendations?
 
If you're looking for commercial software, I've used Symantec Encryption Desktop (Formerly PGP Desktop) for Whole Disk Encryption for 5 or 6 years now. I've had good luck with it, and I like the product. I would just recommend that you read the documentation so that you're familiar with the product before you implement.

If you're looking for something Open Source, then I've got no recommendations now that the TrueCrypt project has been abandoned (and I, personally, was never a big fan of TC to begin with...so I probably wouldn't have really recommended it before either, but plenty of people do use it and advocate its use). If you have a trusted source to download the last rev before 7.2, then it's certainly still usable.
 
I continue to use TrueCrypt (I have 7.1a). It doesn't run in the background, just an app that's running while you've got an encrypted container open.

Encrypting a larger container than just the files themselves makes more sense because the files you're protecting are somewhere inside a massive jumble of random data, whereas going for a method that results in a smaller container presents a smaller chunk of information for someone to attempt to decrypt.

The Enigma encoding scheme was built encompassing a similar concept - machine operators were supposed to type in a load of random digits at the end of each line (I think it was each line, or possibly each sentence), to throw off would-be encryption crackers by using up their time by attempting to decrypt gibberish.
 
FDE presents more hassle than it's worth IMO. If your HDD develops errata and you need into safe mode, you will need the key. If you use Windows 8, pay particular note because you cannot F8 into safe mode. If you have to repair the installation, you need the key, etc.. The security of the key is another concern. Anything you make harder for others is going to make it more of PITA for yourself. One of my clients had a laptop with BitLocker running and one day it decided to ask for the BitLocker key just on bootup for no reason. I like the idea of containers that you can mount. I use the freeware Traveller by BestCrypt. Documents and passwords work nicely, it's portable and secure on any media, no fuss no muss.
 
PliotronX said:
FDE presents more hassle than it's worth IMO. If your HDD develops errata and you need into safe mode, you will need the key. If you use Windows 8, pay particular note because you cannot F8 into safe mode. If you have to repair the installation, you need the key, etc.. The security of the key is another concern. Anything you make harder for others is going to make it more of PITA for yourself. One of my clients had a laptop with BitLocker running and one day it decided to ask for the BitLocker key just on bootup for no reason. I like the idea of containers that you can mount. I use the freeware Traveller by BestCrypt. Documents and passwords work nicely, it's portable and secure on any media, no fuss no muss.
Click to expand...

That's always been my fear. I try to stay away from complicated/abstracted solutions for core infrastructure. If I had more of a pressing need, the potential hassle would be a reasonable trade off, but as it stands, I encrypt files I consider important with GPG, and call it a day.
 
Thanks to all who recommend against whole drive encryption, we used to do it to all notebooks at my company and the issues mentioned above were a PITA. Also the software we used to encrypt made hard drive images HUGE (a 500 GB HD with 60 GB data created a full 500 GB image).
 
Encrypting the entire drive doesn't seem like a good idea to me, to many things that can go wrong and end up being a huge hassle. A simple mountable volume seems a lot more appealing, which is why I've always liked truecrypt. Now that it's viability is in doubt, I'm not sure what the best solution is .....
 
PokerGuy said:
Encrypting the entire drive doesn't seem like a good idea to me, to many things that can go wrong and end up being a huge hassle. A simple mountable volume seems a lot more appealing, which is why I've always liked truecrypt. Now that it's viability is in doubt, I'm not sure what the best solution is .....
Click to expand...
A fair comment. I've never had any problems with my encrypted drives apart from hard drive failure, but that would have toasted everything anyway.

Backup is essential either way. No matter if you use a container or FDE.

As above, Diskcryptor is a fine choice. As powerful as Truecrypt, but it's not crossplatform (Windows only). It's also still in active development.
 
Last edited:
I used Truecrypt on an external HDD and created a full size container which I throw files into. If I want to switch to another encryption software like Diskcryptor, what steps do I need to take to get off Truecrypt? I assume I can only copy all files elsewhere first then format the drive?
 
I use FDE. The only problem is that if you have run system restore from the Windows disk your screwed unless you decrypt. I use Truecrypt and so it creates a CD that you can use to decrypt without logging into Windows. I also encrypt the backups on the external. What point is FDE when your backups/clones would be in full site?
 
Hi guys I'm looking for a software to encrypt my files before i upload them to the cloud. I have a bunch of files(around 200) packed into a .wim archive using 7-zip. I want to up the archive to a cloud storage, however i want to encrypt it(the wim file) before i do so.

I downloaded diskcryptor and turns out it is meant for full drives, not individual files. Any recommendations for me?
 
we have used symantec encryption. giant PITA when hit with viruses and malware. at that point in time we advised the client to remove all installations and go with truecrypt. it was such a nightmare trying to repair windows.
 
inf1nity said:
Hi guys I'm looking for a software to encrypt my files before i upload them to the cloud. I have a bunch of files(around 200) packed into a .wim archive using 7-zip. I want to up the archive to a cloud storage, however i want to encrypt it(the wim file) before i do so.

I downloaded diskcryptor and turns out it is meant for full drives, not individual files. Any recommendations for me?
Click to expand...

GPG is good and easy for single files and archives. There's a port for Windows GPG4Win, and it should work well, but I've never used it.
 
Chiefcrowe said:
I don't know much about this one.. do you use it? I was wondering how it was, etc...
Click to expand...
Good question.

In terms of usability i think it's on par with Truecrypt, minus creation of a recovery CD which is a title complicated.

It supports all the major encryption algorithms as well as cascading. I would also bet that the implementation is sound. It's also currently being maintained and an updated guide on how to compile it yourself is available.

I think it's a quality product. It's as safe as Truecrypt, Bitlocker, PGP and the other major players. There is no evidence to suggest otherwise.

I have however just moved over to Bitlocker for my Windows systems and dm-crypt/LUKS for my Linux systems.

But if you want a free alternative you can compile yourself DiskCryptor is a create piece of software.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top