Tales from the encryption
Dear PropellerHeads: For argument's sake, let's assume that my computer will eventually get hacked one day. What's the best way to protect my sensitive information from getting out there in the wild?
A: Have you heard of floppies? Seriously. The best way to protect information is to make sure it isn't even there. Am I right?
Of course, why do you have that five petabyte hard drive if you are not going to actually store data on it? So...floppies are probably not the best way to go...which is a bummer because I still have a stack of those somewhere in the closet that are aching to be utilized for something other than coasters.
What you are looking to do is encrypt your entire drive, or at least certain files on your computer. Keep in mind that encryption doesn't do anything to make the transfer of information more secure, it just ensures that if the information is intercepted by a nefarious third party, it will be difficult to read the actual content without having the appropriate key.
Like everything else in the digital world, there is more than one way to go about it. How-To-Geek has a nice overview of the options on a variety of platforms: bit.ly/1yS3Iwu.
For just encrypting a file or a directory, a good, quick method is to use 7-Zip (www.7-zip.org). You might already be using 7-Zip for your zip file management, but perhaps you did not know that it will also encrypt these archives.
Some tips when going this route. Use the 7z archive format, not the zip file format. Use the AES-256 encryption method. There do exist brute-force password cracking applications for these files. For this reason, the longer the password you use, the more secure the file will be.
Another thing you could do is camouflage your file. You know in NCIS where Abbie and McGee find image files on villains' computers that are more than what they seem? And when they dig deeper they find the files contain a whole lot of secret info? Well, that could be you!
Free File Camouflage (bit.ly/1pYLs3R) claims to do just that. It will allow you to select a file, select an image, supply a password and voila, you get an image file with a whole lot more hidden inside.
My personal experience left me disappointed. While the camouflaging works fine, the resulting file wouldn't always open properly with every image viewing software package I tried. Then of course, if you did manage to open the file and overwrote it, all of your hidden data is gone forever. Therefore, I'd recommend this method for only the most paranoid.
The next level up is encrypting your entire hard disk. The more advanced editions of Windows (both 7 & 8) come with BitLocker. Again, How-To-Geek has a nice article on going over the process (bit.ly/1vspDuk). Admittedly, this is not for nubes. So much so that a lot of people don't even bother using BitLocker because its setup is too difficult.
Those people often turn to VeraCrypt (veracrypt.codeplex.com) instead. There are a few different ways to use VeraCrypt, one being to encrypt your entire hard disk. Another is to create an encrypted volume file somewhere on your computer and then mount it to a drive letter. Every time you mount the file it prompts for a password. Pretty easy to setup and maintain.
Finally, another way to protect your system is to require a USB key in order to login. USB Raptor is one such product (bit.ly/1kILCJR). With this setup you cannot login into your account without the USB key inserted. You can even limit this to a specific serial number of the USB drive, if desired. Once the key is removed, you are instantly logged off.
One of these mechanisms should help you feel more secure for the New Year. If not, don't forget that stash of floppies!
When the PropellerHeads at Data Directions aren't busy with their IT projects, they love to answer questions on business or consumer technology. Email them to questions@askthepropellerheads.com or contact us at Data Directions Inc., 8510 Bell Creek Road, Mechanicsville, VA 23116. Visit our website at www.askthepropellerheads.com.