Most likely, you've had something go wrong with a hard drive turning it unusable, at least temporarily. Maybe your operating system was corrupted in some way, but you still had data on the drive you needed/wanted. If you had the availability, you removed the drive and put it in another system to pull the data off before reinstalling your system. Time consuming but easy, right?
As easy as that process is, it is just as easy for someone with malicious intent to steal your data by physically taking the drive. Yet, there is a way to protect it. For this week 5 post, I will be talking about encrypting your data in order to safeguard it.
One method to safeguard your data is to use whole disk encryption. This is most commonly used on removable media such as a flash drive, but can be applied to your internal (laptop or desktop) hard drive(s). When the drive is encrypted like this, you will be prompted for a pass phrase each time it is plugged in and/or turned on. The pass phrase is the key to unlock the system and allow it for use. Without it, the hard drive is just a fancy paperweight. One drawback of using this method is the time it takes for the initial setup, which can last several hours depending on system performance. Another drawback is security while in use. Once the pass phrase is entered and the drive is unlocked, it can be accessed by other users on the network or locally on the system.
You can use file encryption to protect specific files on your system. File encryption works in pretty much the same way as the whole disk method, but is very focal on what is encrypted. Protecting financial, medical, or other private data should be the main focus. Your iTunes library should be protected just fine without encrypting each MP3.
Using these methods together is a great way to protect your data while at rest. But what about in transit via e-mail or other transportation methods? While it can take sometime to set it up, it could be worth it to use a secure messaging program called Pretty Good Privacy (PGP). PGP can be integrated into different web-mail programs, like with the Chrome plug-in.
There are many different options for each of these methods, so it's best to do some research to find out which one will work best for you.
As always, thanks for reading!
References to checkout:
https://www.symantec.com/content/en/us/enterprise/white_papers/b-pgp_how_wholedisk_encryption_works_WP_21158817.en-us.pdf
http://lifehacker.com/five-best-file-encryption-tools-5677725
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-encrypt-your-email-and-keep-your-conversations-p-1133495744
http://encryption-software-review.toptenreviews.com/
http://www.howtogeek.com/200113/htg-explains-when-should-you-use-encryption/
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2025462/how-to-encrypt-almost-anything.html
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2013/jun/06/laptop-encrypt-personal-data
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy
https://www.comodo.com/home/email-security/free-email-certificate.php
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