Encrypted USB Hard Drive

Former Member · April 2007

I've ordered a 20GB 2.5 inch Hard Drive off Ebay - Should arrive today.

And I already have a USB 2 Caddy to put it in.

My plan is to shift all my personal files and emails to that drive and then from time to time backup to a big 200 GB drive I have and also a password protected / encrypted Zip file on my laptop. I also use portable versions of Thunderbird, Firefox, Open Office, etc so wherever I go I should be able to access those kinds of things and have everything just the way I like it with all my favorites in place.

I use a Laptop most of the time although it rarely moves from my desk.

However should I ever lose the hard drive I don't want people to be able to access my files as they'll have online bank details and passwords, etc on it.

So what freeware is out there to protect an external USB drive?

I've seen Toshiba External USB Drives have a Password thing on them and when you plug them into a PC you need to enter a password to access the main section of the drive, something like that would be useful.

Former Member · April 2007

I always use TrueCrypt, it's the best Open Source encryption application out there, in fact it's better than a lot of commercial programs. It can create a virtual encrypted disk so you can mount it as a real disk and nobody will even know it's there, not even with forensic tools there is no evidence of the container being on your disk. You can also encrypt entire hard disk partitions or portable storage devices and you have the option of creating a hidden volume which is where you create an outer volume and inner volume so if your forced to give over you password you give them your outer password so your inner stays safe, the inner volume being the one with the real info in it.

Any way, it's got lots of cool stuff on it and is very easy to use and it's also portable.

www.truecrypt.org

Former Member · April 2007

'forced to give over your password' -

if someone is interrogating you, I guess...

FWIW I'm not sure how secure zip archives are. rar is superior, as is .7z, because even though it's passworded in zips there are loads of ways to read certain bits of information. only way to find anything out about a rar other than the archive size is to brute force the password (basically impossible over 8 characters - will take about a week to crack a 5 letter / number password on an average pc)

Former Member · April 2007

Makoto wrote: »

so if your forced to give over you password you give them your outer password so your inner stays safe, the inner volume being the one with the real info in it.]

i forgot it honestly :angel:

Former Member · April 2007

lol, you know the police can imprison you for up to two years for not handing over a password!

I think everyone should use encryption and erase sensitive files when they are not needed. Now I got a laptop I'd never leave anything unencrypted like personal info, especially downloaded bank statements or even family photo's.

Former Member · April 2007

Makoto wrote: »

lol, you know the police can imprison you for up to two years for not handing over a password! .

That's what I was gonna say - although with truecrypt you can have a hidden partition so you could reveal your main password but have all the other stuff protected.

I did look around and nothing seems better then truecrypt - wet for the twofish encryption as it seems one of the fastest.

But what I've done is partition the USB drive in 2 and have one half encrypted and the other not. Gonna put portable Thunderbird, FileZilla, FireFox, etc on the encrypted section and anything non sensitive on the other.

My main worry was that you have to have admin right to run TrueCypt - which is fine onmy own PC's but worry if I travel with it.

Encrypted USB Hard Drive

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