How secure is a secure flash drive? What level of tech savvy does it take to overcome the password requirement? Has anyone any suggestions for one that is good, or a warning for any that are bad? How big are these, the size of an ordinary flash drive that one can wear around her neck 24/7? Or are they much larger?
Secure flash drive advice
- Thread starter Leslie
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Edward
Puritanboard Commissioner
Why not just use TrueCrypt and a strong password?
TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source On-The-Fly Disk Encryption Software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X and Linux
Of course, there is no right of privacy when crossing international borders, so anything would just be useful in-country.
TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source On-The-Fly Disk Encryption Software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X and Linux
Of course, there is no right of privacy when crossing international borders, so anything would just be useful in-country.
I was going to recommend the same. If you use AES encryption and a 20 character password then you can make it nearly unbreakable.
That goes for WiFi hotspots as well.
I've used Truecrypt on thumb drives before. Of course, the data is only as secure as the system it's connected to. If your computer is not protected then using a secure flashdrive doesn't help a whole lot.
A third vote for Truecrypt. As for securing the system, if the files are really sensitive, the easiest approach is to only use the flash drive on a computer that is not connected to a network (as in the internet) and that you don't let others use.
But, as Rich notes, if you use the flash drive on someone else's computer and open the files with the password, and it has some application to read or store what you see, you might be exposing the files as you work on them.
This is all very helpful. Still some questions, pardon my technological challenges.
Is this correct: I can download some encrypting program onto my computer. I then encrypt my sensitive files. Using the password to de-encrypt (what is the correct term here ?) I can work on those files some more, then reencrypt them. In order for someone else to get into them, he/she would have to have both my computer password and the encryptation password.
Can I do the same encrypting with a flash drive, downloading the encryptation to that, and then transporting it? Can the receiver then recover the straight manuscript by just knowing my password?
Do these encryptation programs encrypt only text or do they encrypt illustrations also?
What is the meaning of no privacy across international borders? I have nothing of interest to any government, just a manuscript that I'm trying to keep out of the hands of a certain person and his organization. I have a contact in the States who needs to be able to get this manuscript at whatever stage it is at.
A friend sent me information about a place where for about 40 bucks you can upload 150 GB of information and then retrieve it. It sounded good, but this international border thing gives me pause to reconsider. I like the idea of encrypting better anyway. That way there simply will not be any readable copy in this country. The caution of not putting in the password while connected to the internet is well taken.
Is this correct: I can download some encrypting program onto my computer. I then encrypt my sensitive files. Using the password to de-encrypt (what is the correct term here ?) I can work on those files some more, then reencrypt them. In order for someone else to get into them, he/she would have to have both my computer password and the encryptation password.
Can I do the same encrypting with a flash drive, downloading the encryptation to that, and then transporting it? Can the receiver then recover the straight manuscript by just knowing my password?
Do these encryptation programs encrypt only text or do they encrypt illustrations also?
What is the meaning of no privacy across international borders? I have nothing of interest to any government, just a manuscript that I'm trying to keep out of the hands of a certain person and his organization. I have a contact in the States who needs to be able to get this manuscript at whatever stage it is at.
A friend sent me information about a place where for about 40 bucks you can upload 150 GB of information and then retrieve it. It sounded good, but this international border thing gives me pause to reconsider. I like the idea of encrypting better anyway. That way there simply will not be any readable copy in this country. The caution of not putting in the password while connected to the internet is well taken.
Leslie,
Truecrypt lets you encrypt nearly the entire flashdrive. It looks like a gigantic file with gibberish to anyone else who tries to read the contents but, on the drive, there's a small app that you run that allows you to enter the password and then the files are all accessible. You can save anything to the drive as long as there is space. It looks and acts like a normal drive once it's unencrypted. Easiest thing to do is to download the free software and try it out.
Truecrypt lets you encrypt nearly the entire flashdrive. It looks like a gigantic file with gibberish to anyone else who tries to read the contents but, on the drive, there's a small app that you run that allows you to enter the password and then the files are all accessible. You can save anything to the drive as long as there is space. It looks and acts like a normal drive once it's unencrypted. Easiest thing to do is to download the free software and try it out.
As for border crossings, the issue varies by country and even by the day.
Basic rule for US border crossings is that your electronic equipment can be searched. Truecrypt can hide files, but if a federal officer asks you if you encrypt things, you'd want to answer truthfully. The Feds put people in prison for lying about what they call "material" facts. I suppose the fact you have files on a flash drive might be considered "material" for something these days.
As for having to turn over the password, that gets into a different territory. I don't think you have to turn that over, but they can take your flash drive for "a reasonable time" to try to search it.
I haven't heard of flash drive confiscations recently, but that doesn't mean they won't happen.
Thanks for the international borders clarification. I won't mind at all furnishing the password to what I have. It's a book manuscript, the 7th edition of the medical manual that I wrote, nothing politically or ethically sensitive. My problem with security is that I want to keep it out of some hostile hands.
Curt, you should at least put them in a folder labeled "Offensive Content." Maybe the searchers would be more motivated to read it.
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