Have ever wanted to have your confidential files securely encrypted in your hard drive?

by observador 10 Replies latest watchtower scandals

• 

  observador

  Wow, now you can!

  After spending money and time on a useless secure "Passport" hard drive that never worked well, I came across TrueCrypt, and have been very happy with it. This came very handy recently after my sister tried to spy on my unattended personal computer.

  So, now you can safely and securely hide all those damming "apostate" PDFs, including the most dangerous "apostate" files: Watchtower's old digitized literature.

  TrueCrypt is an open source, free software that will create a file in your computer, in a location you define. This file will be "mounted" later and become a drive of the size of the file you create.

  There are more than one type of encrypted "drive" (or "volume") you can create, including one of the type "hidden volume" which is very clever but also a bit more complicate to create. To keep things simple, find below the step-by-step instructions on how to create a "Standard TrueCrypt Volume".

  Creating a Standard TrueCrypt Volume

  1. Download TrueCrypt from http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads (instructions below for version 6.3a, November 23rd, 2009)

  2. Unzip the file to any folder and start TrueCrypt.exe.

  3. Click the Create Volume button.

  4. Screen TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard will show.

  5. Select the "Create an encrypted file container" option. Click Next.

  6. Screen Volume Type will show.

  7. Select the "Standard TrueCrypt volume" option. Click Next.

  8. Click the "Select File..." button. You will then create a folder and a file name in it, or a file name only in an existing folder.

  9. Click Next.

  10. Screen Encryption Options will show.

  11. Accept the default values for this screen (AES and RIPEMD-160). Click Next.

  12. Screen Volume Size will show. Here you will specify the size of the file created in step 8, which will be the size of your new drive. Click Next.

  13. Select a password. Click Next.

  14. Screen Volume Format will show. Accept the default values. Click Format.

  15. Screen Volume Created will show. Congratulations!, your new drive is ready to be mounted.

  16. Click Exit, which will close the Wizard and take you back to the main screen.

  Mounting the New Drive (or Volume) You Just Created

  (This procedure is what you will perform every time you want the encrypted and hidden drive/volume to be visible to you)

  1. Start TrueCrypt.exe if it isn't already open.

  2. Click the Select File... button.

  3. Select the file you created in step 8 above.

  4. Select any drive letter from the list of available letters in the big list box, and click the Mount button.

  5. Enter the password you assigned to this file/volume.

  6. Open Windows Explorer and see your new drive.

  7. Congratulations! Now start copying to this drive all those sensitive files.

  8. When you're done, restart TrueCrypt.exe (if you have closed it), select the letter of the drive you want to close/hide, click Dismount.

  Enjoy! Observador.
• 

  Elsewhere

  TrueCrypt is AWESOME!

  I keep the hard drives on all of my computers encrypted with that.
• 

  FatFreek 2005

  I use TrueCrypt on my external backup which I store in some building, offsite. In the unlikely event someone breaks into that building and discovers it and then tries to access it, all they will get is the message that the drive needs formatting. If they suspect that it is encrypted with TrueCrypt (a very lucky guess) they would still need to come up with my very strong password.

  Far better that, than accessing my sensitive files.

  Len Miller
• 

  observador

  That's correct, Len. Because the volume file looks just like any other file in the hard drive, even if anyone suspect that it is an encrypted "volume", he won't be able to recover your files in the volume.

  I wish I had found TrueCrypt before.

  Observador.
• 

  Leolaia

  This is quite interesting. I have been digitizing old records and statements and receipts to make room in my garage and I don't want that to be accessible to strangers and open myself up to identity theft. Connected with this is the problem of hard drive failure. Does this mean that files encrypted with TrueCrypt CANNOT be recovered if the drive does in fact fail?

  I am quite good at creating solid passwords; I usually put them through two or three passes of ciphering and then memorize the gibberish string as a keystroke pattern. Even if I forget the pattern, I can usually recover it by recalling the ciphering procedure.
• 

  Elsewhere

  > Does this mean that files encrypted with TrueCrypt CANNOT be recovered if the drive does in fact fail?

  Odds are, the encrypted data will be lost if there is a drive failure.

  I keep two copies of my encrypted data. One on the computer itself. The other on an external backup drive in a fire-proof safe. (Both drives are encrypted)

  Here are some examples of what I'm talking about: http://www.google.com/products?rlz=1C1GGLS_enUS362US362&sourceid=chrome&q=fire+and+waterproof+hard+drive&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=4sOKS_CYLNGXtgeasZCyDw&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=image&resnum=3&ved=0CBgQzAMwAg
• 

  FatFreek 2005

  Here's my offsite storage economy "package". One Sentry portable fire safe plus one Western Digital external hard drive. The drive fits comfortably inside and the two are a reasonably priced package of physical security. Along with TrueCrypt, the data is virtually secure.

  

  One more thing. Since the package is stored in an unheated (and not-cooled) building, the drive would be subject to incessant cooling at night, especially in sub-freezing temperatures. I use a quart-size zip lock baggie, in which I place the drive. This is the type of baggie that has a vacuum valve. I place the battery powered vacuum pump against the baggie's valve and voila -- most air, along with it's potential condensate, is removed. I've used this technique for some 2 years now and believe it to be working.

  I store the locked safe in an old beat-up and stinky gym bag, the looks of which would not attract much attention if one breaks into the building.

  Len
• 

  observador

  "Does this mean that files encrypted with TrueCrypt CANNOT be recovered if the drive does in fact fail?"

  The answer is "yes" and "no". Here's the thing: The file TrueCrypt creates (step 8 above) is just like any other file, but strongly encrypted. What that means is that if the hard drive is recoverable, your encrypted "volume" is also recoverable; if not, then you will probably loose your "volume" file along with all (or most) the other files.

  Interesting about this "volume" file is that you can copy it anywhere, such as a physically separate hard drive.

  Follow the steps above and create a small "volume" file and you'll see how it works.

  Thank you guys for the tips on how to keep your backup drive on a safe. That's a really good idea.

  Observador.
• 

  leec

  ... either that, or just get a Mac and use File Vault. It comes as part of the operating system.
• 

  observador

  BTTT for the week crowd.