Document Encrypting Software

[cancidas]

i'm in need of software to encrypt files on my personal computer. anyone use any that they'd be willing to recommend?

[Cary]

I'd say TrueCrypt, but Manny is the expert in things like this :smile:

[heeshung]

TrueCrypt.

[gonzalu]

You guys are too kind :smile:

So, it looks like you may only want to encrypt a file or a few files? TrueCrypt is awesome, but it is more of a partition or folder or file locker sort of thing. If that's what you want, then it is perfect for the job. If you are looking for alternatives, read on.

Single Files:

Built-in - Don't forget that Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. have built in document encryption. Simple enough and secure enough except for those who are really interested in breaking in. If you want to hide stuff from foreign or your local government, read on.

Archivers - Most of the better archivers implement archive encryption, either proprietary or standards based. Formats like .ZIP, .RAR and .7z --to name some of the most popular today-- have built in standards based encryption. I prefer 7zip and .7z since it is very powerful, makes really small archives at very high speed (encode/decode) and supports standards based gov't AES encryption. If you don't want the feds to break it, AES is NOT safe. I don't trust it because they sanctioned it :tongue:

Whole Disk:

This is when you want the entire hard drive encrypted, including the OS. This is what we use at work since we are required by policy and regulations (healthcare (HIPAA, financial (SOx) and PIC to name a couple). The software we decided to use is CheckPoint FDE but are now quickly moving to BitLocker from Microsoft which is built in to Windows Vista and Windows 7.

BitLocker: Microsoft did their homework and actually designed a really good FDE that meets all the possible vulnerabilities and attack vectors while elegantly making it seamless to the end user. The white paper alone is worth reading if you want to learn more about encryption in general.

--

I am old fashioned and very right-wing when it comes to security so I still love PGP. The original one, not the mess it has become now (Symantec owns it for god's sake) PGP is the only software that is trusted by every government on this planet. The developer was almost put in jail for ever because it was so good, even the NSA still cannot crack it and it is freely available (although exporting it can get you in a federal prison) and was easy to use (relatively)

Don;t discount other forms of protection such as a simple hardware encrypted USB key which requires no software. I prefer and use an IronKey 4GB drive which is expensive but also VERY SECURE and fast and durable.

https://www.ironkey.com/

anyway. happy shopping :-) Feel free to ask anything encryption... I love this topic :smile:

[gonzalu]

BTW the other beauty of PGP was the trust network. Since trust and reputation (to me, the only true system of security is one that also layers on reputation on top of pure obfuscation. If you know where the data came from, you have a higher level of security in and of itself) were part of the system, it relied on a network of trust keys. Public keys could be signed by trusted colleagues and having a chain of trust was even better. If, say, you were able to get Steve Jobs to sign your public key, your reputation would go sky high and your encrypted files even more secure. Not because they were better encrypted, but because they came from a well trusted source as well.

[cancidas]

thanks, i'll definitely look into this more when i get my computer back this coming week. this is not only going to be for myself but also for my father's medical practice so i want to make sure i get it right.